CAG seeks account details of discoms to assess AT & C losses

OST Bureau

Bhubaneswar, Sep 10:

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has sought information from the state government on annual accounts and annual reports of private power distribution companies (discoms) between 2008-09 and 2012-13 to scrutinize their financial condition during the period. Discoms, it may be noted, have been claiming steep aggregate technical & commercial (AT & C) losses touching nearly 40%.

Besides the annual accounts, the office of the CAG, which is conducting a thematic audit on ‘distribution sector and AT&C loss’, has also sought information agenda papers and minutes of meetings of the board of directors of the discoms for the same period and monitoring activities of the Energy department in respect of these companies.

The AG, Odisha had asked the power distribution companies to submit the required information on 18 June. But since they have not bothered to respond yet, the CAG has now sought the information from the state government.  

It has asked the state government to furnish information on steps taken to implement the decision to install 591 additional 33/11 KV sub-stations in different blocks and detailed project reports (DPRs) submitted by the discoms.

Besides, the CAG has called for information on actual capital expenditure recorded by each discom under schemes like Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) and Biju Gram Jyoti Yojana (BGJY).

As part of the reforms process, of which cutting down AT & C losses was a major objective, 51% of the shares of the now disbanded Odisha State Electricity Board (OSEB) were transferred to four distribution companies – Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha Ltd (Cesu), North Eastern Electricity Supply Company of Odisha Ltd (Nesco), Western Electricity Supply Company of Odisha Ltd (Wesco) and Southern Electricity Supply Company of Odisha Ltd (Southco). But clearly, the reforms have not had the desired result as evidenced by the still high losses on the count.

While Cesu is currently an OERC (Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission) managed entity, Nesco, Wesco and Southco are controlled by Reliance Energy Ltd.