Releasing a white paper on power in the Assembly on Thursday, the Telangana government termed the financial health of the Telangana power sector as precarious and a matter of grave concern.
The State government said that the financial health of the power utilities was alarming with the debts of the discoms being Rs 81,516 crore and their accumulated losses rising to Rs 62,461 crore as on October 31, 2023.
The White Paper said that the main reason that the discoms were facing so many difficulties in electricity procurement was dues of Rs 28,842 crore which had not been paid by various departments of the State government for years.
"Of these total arrears, the arrears of the irrigation department alone are Rs. 14,193 crore. Apart from this, the burden of Rs 14,928 crore which the previous government had promised to pay to the discoms under the actual adjustment costs of power purchase (true-up charges) further weakened the financial position of the discoms," it said.
The State government in the White Paper said that the discoms were resorting to borrowings on a regular basis just to keep the power supply going, and that the borrowings had reached unsustainable proportions.
"There is very limited scope to continue to fund the purchase of power through these means. Discoms are now finding themselves in a debt trap due to failure of government in paying its dues and commitments to the sector," it said.
The State government however said that despite the above legacy of financial imprudence, it was committed to providing quality and reliable power to the people.