DISCOM collections expected to be hit during lockdown: Ind-Ra
A report by India Ratings (Ind-Ra) has suggested that the bill collections of DISCOMs are likely to be significantly impacted amid the lockdown.
Various factors such as low demand from Industrial consumers, higher than expected technical and commercial losses, higher dependence on direct collections from consumers who are likely to delay payments themselves and the inability to increase tariffs immediately are likely to affect the cash flow of DISCOMs.
Domestic Solar PV panel production hasn’t picked up during the 2 years of safeguard duty
Safeguard duty imposed on imported solar cells and modules is a few months away from expiring. It was originally imposed to level the playing field between Indian manufacturers and their Chinese counterparts who were more price effective. The safeguard duty imposed in July 2018 was 25% for the first year, 20% for the following six months and 15% for the last six months.
However, close to expiry, it hasn’t done Indian manufacturers any good. The local manufacturing capacity at 2GW has remained stagnant throughout the imposition of the safeguard duty. Operational module capacity has increased by 2GW but assembly of modules doesn’t fulfill the objectives of implementing the duty.