PATIALA: Both Punjab and Haryana power utilities improved their ratings as compared to the last year and are now covered under A grade for their high operational and financial performance capabilities.
Punjab is placed at the ninth position while Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) and Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) of Haryana are placed at eleventh and sixteenth in the seventh integrated rating for state power distribution companies released by the ministry of power.
PSPCL improved its rating from the last year’s position of 11th to 9th position though it is yet to regain A+ grade which it held for two consecutive years. In case of Haryana, there has been a marked improvement from B+ to A grade.
The seventh rating of ministry of power assessed 41 power utilities of different states and out of these total of seven utilities got an A+ rating. Gujarat discoms retained their top performance in the integrated ratings with all four power distribution utilities of the state topped the integrated ratings of state discoms besides two from Karnataka and one from Uttarakhand. There were nine utilities each in A and B+ grade, followed by eight in B grade, five in C+ and three discoms in C grade.
PSPCL has improved in the domain of cost coverage and power purchase cost which is lower than the benchmark. However, in case of PSPCL, the key concerns are subsidy dependence on the state government which remains high particularly towards agriculture consumers coupled with the delay in receipt of subsidy. Further lower collection efficiency is impacting AT&C losses adversely.
In the case of Haryana UHBVN and DHBVN, the key concerns are high power purchase cost at Rs 4.66 per unit and low billing efficiency.
DHBVN has reduced AT&C losses to 19.16% with a collection efficiency of 100%. In the case of UHBVN, AT&C losses have been reduced to 25.16% from previous years' losses of 31.97% but these are still on the higher side with a collection efficiency of 99.63%.The strength of both utilities is timely payment of subsidy and reduction in debt level.
Scores have been assigned on the basis of performance of state distribution utilities against various parameters. The operational and reform parameters viz. AT&C losses, efficiency of power purchase cost, digital payment facility, etc. carry weightage of 52%. The financial parameters viz. cost coverage ratio, payables, receivables and timely submission of audited accounts carry weightage of 33%. External parameters relating to the regulatory environment and state government subsidy support have been assigned weightage of 15%.