The vision statement of Indraprastha Power Generation Company Limited says “To make Delhi – Power Surplus”. Whether the company will be able to achieve this noble objective or not is difficult to imagine now, but the things as they stand today clearly indicate that the company soon will become “cash deficit”, unless some corrective measures are taken on an urgent basis. At the end of Financial Year 2012-13, Indraprastha Power’s receivables stood at whopping Rs. 1,230 crore mainly due to under-recoveries from two discoms, BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL). Interestingly, Indraprastha Power’s total receivables were under Rs. 60 crore just two years ago. This clearly indicates the deteriorating financial health of these discoms. In fact, Indraprastha Power could recover only 35% of the amount billed during 2012-13. If the PPA terms are strictly followed, power generating company can stop supplying power to the discoms which may lead to blackout in the national capital.
The power generating company, that meets 7% of Delhi’s peak hour power demand, has written letters to Delhi government and also DERC requesting them to resolve the matter. Delhi government has bailed out cash starved power generator by providing temporary financial support. During the last two financial years, the government of National Capital Territory of Delhi has given Indraprastha Power Rs. 99 crore as equity and Rs. 500 crore as short-term working capital loans to tide over the liquidity crunch. Indraprastha Power also enjoys flexibility in interest and principal repayments on the loans taken from GoNCTD and Delhi Power Company Limited. Further, GoNCTD has re-directed part of the subsidy payable to BRPL and BYPL to power generator. Also, the state load despatch centre has been asked to provide the unscheduled interchange charges earned by BYPL and BRPL to the generators directly.
However, all these are temporary solutions to a problem which has all the signs of becoming a permanent one.
