Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Feb 22: The government has identified five state-owned power generation and transmission companies for stock market listing to attract fresh investments for capacity expansion, according to a Financial Express report.
Power secretary Pankaj Agarwal revealed that Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation and Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation are among the five firms currently appointing merchant bankers for the process.
In addition, the government is exploring the possibility of privatising state-run distribution companies (discoms), which face financial strain due to rising power procurement costs, high transmission and distribution (T&D) losses, and delayed consumer payments.
During a recent regional meeting, states sought the Centre’s support in privatising distribution utilities to improve service efficiency and reliability. However, a financial bailout is not on the table, though a ministerial group has been formed to address discoms' financial concerns.
The government is also evaluating the feasibility of listing certain discoms on stock exchanges, provided they reduce their accumulated losses.
As per official data, discoms recorded total losses of Rs 6.92 trillion in 2023-24, with outstanding debt reaching Rs 7.53 trillion. While subsidy payments from states have improved, and the gap between the average cost of supply (ACS) and average revenue realised (ARR) has narrowed from 45 paise per kWh in 2022-23 to 19 paise in 2023-24, some government dues remain unsettled.
By January 2025, the ACS-ARR gap had further reduced to just 10 paise per kWh.