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UDAY: Discoms’ AT and C losses rise again

<p>UDAY aimed at improving the financial health of debt-laden electricity distribution companies (discoms), the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&amp;C) losses of these entities have shot up over the past year after a gradual drop achieved since FY15. According to the UDAY portal, AT&amp;C losses reported by 24 states were 23% at Q3FY18, compared with 20.3% in FY17.</p> <p>Irregular subsidy disbursal by state governments has been identified as one of the major factors behind discoms&rsquo; woes. Apart from creating working capital issues, these delays also disrupt the overall chain of power business with the rise in pending receivables of power producers selling electricity to discoms. Payments delayed beyond a 60-day window, from discoms to seven IPPs at September-end was a whopping Rs 8,033 crore. With other IPPs also facing similar problems, industry experts estimate that dues of at least Rs 20,000 crore to these companies were unsettled.</p>