Chennai: The losses in Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) have hit a new high in 2018-19 and touched Rs 12,623 crore — an increase of 63 per cent compared to the previous year — mainly due to implementation of pay commission to more than 80,000 employees and because the Tamil Nadu government refused to revise the tariff after December 2014.
Sources in TANGEDCO told News18 that unless tariff is revised immediately, the discom losses are likely to increase further. “It has been more than six years since the tariff was last revised and due to this the revenue is stagnant. But on the expenditure side, the cost of coal, rail rakes, cost of maintenance of thermal units etc have more than doubled,” said a senior TANGEDCO official.
“The gap between the cost of power purchased and the amount realised by the utility has crossed Rs 2 per unit,” the official said. “Even during the last revision in 2014, we did not benefit fully as the tariff hike was only for consumers who consume more than 500 units bimonthly. Though we get subsidy from the government for providing free units, there is delay in releasing of the subsidy and cost which we pay for providing free units,” said the official.
The pay revision alone increased the discom’s burden by more than Rs 1,317 crore each year. “Several times, the discom has presented the annual recurring revenue (ARR) to the TNERC. The ARR will explain what is the deficit for the discom but the TNERC, which is said to be an independent body, has not taken any decision on revising the tariff and is waiting for the state government nod,” said the official.
Tangedco, on its part, has started tightening its belt but it is either too late or too little for the discom to lower its losses.
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