Analyzing the Financial Performance of Discom Sector: (Special Reference to Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited, Uttarakhand)
Keywords:
AT&C, ATC ARR Gap, collection effeciency, DISCOMS, outstanding arrears receivable, State elecrticity board, UPCLAbstract
After India attained independence, the power sector, being one of the vital cogs in the wheel of infrastructure development, was paid adequate attention to setting up State Electricity Boards (SEBs) to provide easy electricity access to all its citizens. Due to limited operational improvements, these companies suffered huge losses, and even today, their financial position is quite frail. The Power distribution companies, one of the parts of SEBs, also continued to suffer losses, which prevented further expansion and strengthening of the distribution system (Verma, Mukherjee, Yadav, & Ghosh, 2020).
The current study, focusing on understanding the robustness of the power sector in general and Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) in particular, observed that UPCL shouldering the responsibility of providing easy access to power at a subsidised rate, has accumulated huge arrears both from the government as well as non-government sectors, which has adversely affected the financial health of the company. In addition to these outstanding liabilities, various other factors have also contributed to the deteriorating economic position of UPCL. Although the government has been taking several measures to improve the situation. still, Govt. sector itself is accountable for around one-third of the pending dues of UPCL.
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