Power demand recovery to continue despite blip: Ind-Ra
The all India power demand is likely to have declined in May 2021 on a month-on-month basis and will remain below pre-pandemic levels despite it being peak summer, due to the continued imposition of restrictions by states to curb the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).
“In the first 25 days of May 2021, the all-India energy demand was 88.8 billion units compared to 102.6 billion units in May 2020 and 120.7 billion units in May 2019,” the firm said in a report. It added energy demand is expected to start recovering from June 2021 as the states gradually lift restrictions..
DISCOMs’ outstanding dues to GENCOs fall 3% in March
Total dues owed by DISCOMs to power producers fell 3.4% to Rs 78,379 crore in March 2021 as compared to the year ago period, showing a reversal of pattern.
Outstanding dues of DISCOMs towards GENCOs have been increasing year-on-year as well as month-on-month basis for years indicating perennial stress in the sector until February 2021.
DISCOMs owed a total Rs 81,116 crore to power generation firms in March 2020, according to portal PRAAPTI (Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators). The dues in March also dropped from Rs 98,673 crore in February and Rs 99,023 crore in January this year.