Discoms performed poorly: CAG

‘Such tendency bears the risk of fraud and leakage of public money’

The two power distribution companies (discoms) of Telangana have performed “poorly” in some of the key areas such as feeder segregation and smart metering although their performance was “excellent” in terms of metering of distribution transformers, providing electricity to unconnected households and distribution of LED bulbs. During the 2014-19 period, the Rate of Real Return on Investment in the eight public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the power sector was negative ranging between -17.64% and -10.23%. Huge losses incurred by the discoms during the period had contributed to the overall losses of the power sector PSUs. The observations were made in the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports for the year ending March 2019. As against the paid-up capital of ₹17,770.46 crore, the accumulated losses reported by the PSUs were ₹28,426.43 crore, resulting in a negative net worth of ₹10,655.97 crore.