Chandigarh, January 27
Punjab has secured the 14th place in the annual ranking report released by the Ministry of Power just after Gujarat amongst state Discoms. “The turnaround was made possible by honest technocrat CMD Baldev Singh Sran by his out of box thinking, said, V.K.Gupta, Media Advisor, Media Advisor, All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF).
Giving this information, Gupta informed The News Gateway, “Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) secured an A+ grade in the 14th Annual Integrated Rating and Ranking, and scored 89.22 out of 100 to rank 5th among state-owned Discoms – There are 12 utilities with an A+ rating including private sector.”
Gupta also said that PSPCL also overtook neighbouring Haryana’s utilities UHBVNL and DHBVNL in the latest rankings who got 74.44 per cent and 66-12 per cent out of 100 respectively, while adding, “According to the rakingr report, despite posting healthy net profits, the AT and C losses incurred by Punjab’s Discoms due to energy lost during transmission, theft, metering losses and billing inefficiencies rose from nearly 11 per cent in 2023-24 to 19.2 per cent a year later. According to a senior retired PSPCL official, the main issue is lesser collection efficiency due to less payment of subsidy by Government. This only caused increased AT&C losses, which was not directly under control of PSPCL. Distribution losses are almost as per target.”
Gupta added that PSPCL, which caters to nearly 95 lakh consumers in the agrarian state, led the pack by posting a 677 per cent jump in profits, largely due to the timely release of subsidies and improved revenue. “The integrated rating evaluates power utilities on multiple parameters, including corporate governance, billing efficiency, reduction in distribution losses, subsidy management and operational performance, among others”, he asserted.
Reacting to the achievement, PSEBEA general secretary Ajaypal Singh Atwal said the upgrade reflected focused and professional management.
