AT&C losses in power sector down to 15.41%: Govt

The aggregate technical and commercial losses (AT&C) losses of distribution companies (DISCOMs) have declined from 25.7 per cent in FY15 to 15.41 per cent in FY23, the government data showed on Tuesday, the Ministery of Power and Renewable Energy said in their year-end release.  The reduction in AT&C losses is because of the RDSS reforms carried out by the government. 

For a long time, reducing losses has been the main target of the central and all state governments. And in a bid to reduce losses, a lot of measures have been taken in the past. “Putting in place Rules to ensure payment for any subsidy declared by the Government in time, ensuring that the tariffs are up to date, reducing the legacy dues of GENCOs under Late Payment Surcharge are some of the measures taken by the government,” Minister of Power and Renewable Energy RK Singh added while replying in the winter session of the parliament. 

According to Singh, putting in place revised prudential norms provides that no DISCOM or GENCO of a state government will be able to get loans from PFC and REC if the DISOM is making a loss, unless the DISCOM, with the approval of the State Government.

“As a result of the measures taken, the availability of power supply in rural areas has increased from 12.5 hours in 2015 to 20.6 hours in 2023. The power supply in urban areas will increase to 23.78 hours in 2023,” Singh said.