New Delhi: The power sector in Delhi has seen a steady decline in regulatory assets to Rs 8,377 crore over the last five years, helping the AAP government keep tariffs under check, an official said on Sunday.
The transformation of the Delhi's power sector is best captured by the fact that tariff rates have continuously reduced in the last five years and are now the cheapest in the country, with round the clock power supply in all parts of Delhi, Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission Vice-Chairman Jasmine Shah said.
"At the same time the power discoms' financial health has improved, as measured by regulatory assets," Shah said.
Regulatory assets include receivables from customers. The gap between expenses shown by power discoms and the revenuerecovered from consumers would accumulate as regulatory assets (RAs) over the years. Since 2008-09, the combined RAs of the three discoms in Delhi- BYPL, BRPL and TPDDL shot up drastically from Rs 937 crore to Rs 11,406 crore in 2014-15, an officer of Delhi government's power department said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government came to power in Delhi in February 2015. The RAs have registered a steady decline over the last five years from Rs 11,406 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 8,377 crore in 2018-19, showing a decline of Rs 3,029 crore in that period, said the officer.
The combined RAs of the three discoms were Rs 9,349 crore (2015-16), Rs 8,919 crore (2016-17), Rs 8,776 crore (2017-18) and Rs 8,377 crore in 2018-19.
"It's important to understand that Delhi government's power subsidy scheme for lower and middle-income electricity consumers is not a standalone initiative, it is the result of the power reforms in entirety that includes considerably bringing down regulatory assets and interventions like reducing losses, Shah said.
The Delhi government has fully subsidised monthly consumption of up to 200 units of electricity and extended 50 per cent subsidy to consumers in the range of 201-400 units.
"Ultimately it's a result of sheer political will and something that can be replicated in all parts of the country if the same will exists," Shah said.
The Power department official said the reforms included bringing efficiency inpower supply as well as its distribution.
"Large investment were made in the distribution infrastructure (transformers etc.) to reliably connect all parts of Delhi to the grid. Several measures have been taken that have made Delhi's DISCOMS today as the most efficient ones in India," he said.
The financial health of discoms is majorly affected by the cost of power purchase and the factors that affect it. Several initiatives by the Delhi government and its SLDC (State Load Dispatch Centre) have brought this under control, he said.
Due to upgradation of transmission infrastructure, average transmission and collection (AT&C)losses have substantially reduced in the last five years.
"For example, for BRPL, AT&C losses reduced from 17 per cent in 2013-14 to 8 per cent in 2018-19. Presently discoms in Delhi have among the lowest T&C losses in India, " he claimed.
Additionally, the Delhi government played a major role in enabling discoms to enter into purchasing agreements for 2,000 MW of renewable power at the lowest rates in the country of about Rs 2.6 per unit, the officer said.
These will kick in from 2020 onwards and will further bring down the power purchase cost, added the official.
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