Distribution companies (DISCOMs) owed renewable generators ₹204.39 billion (~$2.64 billion) in overdue payments (excluding disputed amounts) at the end of May, according to the data released by the Ministry of Power.

The figure marked an increase of nearly 2% compared to ₹200.44 billion (~$2.59 billion) at the end of April 2022.

Overdue amounts are payments that are past their due date (between 45-60 days) and remain partially or entirely unpaid.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Power’s payment ratification and analysis portal PRAAPTI, the outstanding amount to renewable generators at the end of the month increased by a massive 425% to ₹8.97 billion (~$115.53 million). At the end of April, the amount was ₹1.71 billion (~$22.02 million).

At the end of May, DISCOMs owed power generators an overdue amount of ₹1.05 trillion (~$13.60 billion), increasing 12% from ₹939.39 billion (~$12.12 billion) at the end of April 2022.

The outstanding amount at the end of the month stood at ₹189.68 billion (~$2.45 billion), 24% less than the ₹250.94 billion (~$3.24 billion) at the end of April.

The DISCOMs released ₹138.04 billion (~$1.78 billion) against the overdue amount in May, a decrease of 7% compared to ₹148.71 billion (~$1.92 billion) during April.

They also released ₹61.56 billion (~$792.89 million) against the outstanding amount, 10% higher than the ₹56.11 billion in April (~$722.69 million).

At the end of the month, the renewable energy generators that DISCOMs owed the most were Adani Green Energy, Hero Future Energies, Tata Power Company, and ACME Solar.

Among the states, Tamil Nadu had the highest backlog with an overdue amount of ₹216.2 billion (~$2.78 billion), followed by Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, with ₹215.45 billion (~$2.77 billion) and ₹114.91 billion (~$1.48 billion), respectively.

In terms of ease of doing business with the DISCOMs, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya were ranked the lowest. Other states that performed badly during the month were Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Jharkhand.

During the month, the states that did well were Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Bihar, Gujarat, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Assam, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Goa.

Recently, the Ministry of Power announced that it was working on a program to mitigate the financial woes of the DISCOMs by liquidating their dues. The proposed program enables payment of these financial dues in easy installments by the DISCOMs. They will be offered a one-time relaxation wherein the outstanding amount, including the principal and the late payment surcharge, will be frozen on the date of the notification without the further imposition of late payment surcharges.

Subscribe to Mercom’s real-time Regulatory Updates to ensure you don’t miss any critical updates from the renewable industry.