Parliament Question: Review of Performance of DISCOMs

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.6243 ANSWERED ON 02.04.2026 REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE OF DISCOMS 6243. SHRI CAPTAIN BRIJESH CHOWTA: SMT. APARAJITA SARANGI: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has undertaken any review of the performance of Power Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) with regard to operational efficiency and reducing Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses, if so, the details thereof; (b) the progress made in reducing AT&C losses and improving billing and collection efficiency across States; and (c) whether the Government has taken steps to accelerate the installation of smart meters and modernise distribution infrastructure in order to strengthen financial sustainability of DISCOMs and improve quality of power supply and if so, the details thereof? A N S W E R THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER (SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK) (a) to (c): Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) has been launched by the Government of India (GoI) in the year 2021 with the objective of improving the operational efficiency and financial viability of the distribution utilities. Under the scheme, distribution infrastructure works, including smart metering works, worth Rs. 2.83 lakh crore have been sanctioned. The scheme aims to reduce Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses to pan-India levels of 12–15% and eliminate the gap between Average Cost of Supply (ACS) and Average Revenue Realised (ARR). Under the scheme, projects worth Rs. 1.53 lakh crore for loss reduction infrastructure and Rs. 1.31 lakh crore for smart metering have been sanctioned based on the proposals submitted by the States. The loss reduction works include replacement of old conductors, augmentation of substations and Distribution Transformers (DTs), creation of new substations, installation of new DTs, feeder segregation and implementation of SCADA/ DMS (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition/ Distribution Management System) systems for real-time monitoring. The works have been undertaken under RDSS to reduce losses and improve quality of power supply.Further, installation of smart meters is a key intervention under the scheme which helps improve the financial discipline of the DISCOMs through enhanced revenue collection and better energy accounting of the distribution system. Smart metering works for 19.79 crore consumers, 2.11 lakh feeders and 52.53 lakh DTs, totaling 20.33 crore smart meters, have been sanctioned based on the proposals submitted by the States/ distribution utilities and 4.69 crore smart meters have been installed. Smart meters have also been installed under other schemes including States’ own schemes. A total of 6.13 crore smart meters have been installed across the country under various schemes. To accelerate installation of smart meters, the Ministry has issued various advisories and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to build consumer confidence, which include: (i) Prioritizing installation of prepaid smart meters for Government establishments, commercial, industrial and high-load consumers and subsequently for other consumers based on demonstration of benefits; (ii) Incentivizing consumers for prepaid meter installation through rebates in bill; (iii) No penalty on consumer based on maximum demand recorded by smart meters; (iv) Mechanism for recovery of past arrears in easy installments; (v) Installation of check meters for enhancing confidence in accuracy of smart meters. The performance of distribution utilities under the scheme is regularly reviewed through institutional mechanisms. Monitoring and review of works sanctioned under RDSS, including smart metering works, is being done by the Nodal Agencies namely PFC Ltd and REC Ltd on a regular basis. Further, an institutional mechanism at the State level i.e., Distribution Reforms Committee headed by Chief Secretary of the State concerned, and at the Central level i.e., Inter-Ministerial Monitoring Committee headed by Secretary (Power), has been put in place under the RDSS guidelines to review and monitor the implementation of the works sanctioned under the scheme. Further, the release of funds under the scheme is contingent on improvement in various operational and financial parameters which, in addition to other initiatives taken by GoI and States, has helped to improve efficiency in DISCOMs. These include timely payment of subsidies and Government department dues to the utilities, regular issuance of tariff order, publishing of accounts, non-creation of regulatory assets, etc. As a result of the various reform measures taken under RDSS and other initiatives, the AT&C losses of distribution utilities at the national level have reduced from 21.91% in FY21 to 15.04% in FY25. Further, the billing efficiency at national level has improved from 84.17% in FY21 to 87.59 % in FY25 and the collection efficiency has improved from 92.77% in FY21 to 97% in FY25. State wise details are enclosed at Annexure. ****************ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6243 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 02.04.2026 ************* State wise AT&C Loss (%) State/ UT FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 51.94 19.8 19.77 20.76 24.14 Andhra Pradesh 20.41 10.55 7.74 12.05 7.87 Arunachal Pradesh 51.82 48.89 51.70 42.86 46.20 Assam 18.73 16.95 16.22 14.03 15.44 Bihar 34.4 32.42 23.45 20.32 15.51 Chhattisgarh 18.05 18.13 16.14 15.88 14.25 Delhi 24.83 8.33 10.67 12.82 8.36 Goa 12.89 13.28 17.09 9.09 10.39 Gujarat 11.56 10.13 10.72 8.97 8.25 Haryana 17.46 13.72 12.01 11.30 11.76 Himachal Pradesh 14.02 12.9 10.57 10.88 19.44 Jharkhand 43.09 33.79 27.46 30.51 28.19 Karnataka 15.97 11.45 14.19 11.89 11.92 Kerala 7.83 7.69 5.65 7.44 6.61 Ladakh - 48.29 38.61 42.46 26.82 Madhya Pradesh 41.72 22.55 20.45 22.89 22.76 Maharashtra 27.68 15.25 16.96 23.86 17.69 Manipur 24.56 23.62 13.82 13.41 12.90 Meghalaya 23.37 27.3 17.75 17.51 17.52 Mizoram 29.05 36.23 26.53 28.01 32.31 Nagaland 47.08 41.25 47.28 47.11 48.86 Puducherry 20.12 11.08 21.83 17.75 14.72 Punjab 18.54 11.67 11.23 10.96 19.21 Rajasthan 26.18 17.49 15.44 22.13 15.18 Sikkim 98.35 30.77 26.41 27.84 21.84 Tamil Nadu 11.78 13.46 10.92 11.39 10.96 Telangana 13.33 10.65 18.65 19.01 19.84 Tripura 37.36 33.25 24.91 69.01 29.61 Uttar Pradesh 27.11 30.52 22.18 16.39 19.54 Uttarakhand 15.39 14.15 14.41 14.69 15.08 West Bengal 21.34 16.67 17.43 17.13 17.17 Private Sector 13.86 15.23 10.76 11.00 10.05 National 21.91 16.12 15.11 16.12 15.04State wise billing efficiency (%) State/ UT FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 76.5 80.74 81.86 79.24 76.70 Andhra Pradesh 92.37 92.43 92.77 92.67 92.81 Arunachal Pradesh 48.18 53.3 55.97 60.07 60.24 Assam 81.45 83.05 83.78 86.31 84.56 Bihar 72.36 78.81 79.88 84.04 86.45 Chhattisgarh 83.16 87.87 83.86 85.78 85.75 Delhi 81.57 91.67 89.33 96.08 91.64 Goa 82.27 91.54 93.18 91.82 92.25 Gujarat 88.44 90.7 90.27 91.20 91.90 Haryana 82.95 86.28 89.03 89.51 90.12 Himachal Pradesh 85.98 87.25 89.43 89.79 90.32 Jharkhand 65.26 72.51 72.54 73.46 71.81 Karnataka 88.01 88.55 89.22 89.62 90.53 Kerala 92.24 92.31 94.35 94.35 93.39 Ladakh - 59.48 61.39 61.29 81.10 Madhya Pradesh 76.64 79.68 79.55 78.35 78.16 Maharashtra 84.77 85.08 85.28 83.95 84.56 Manipur 86.07 83.05 86.18 88.52 89.41 Meghalaya 76.63 77.77 84.01 82.49 83.40 Mizoram 70.95 70.55 73.47 71.99 69.16 Nagaland 54.85 58.72 55.70 54.94 53.77 Puducherry 88.02 88.92 87.11 89.33 90.38 Punjab 88.52 88.35 88.77 89.27 87.82 Rajasthan 80.65 82.51 84.56 82.90 85.70 Sikkim 744.08 77.83 73.59 72.16 78.16 Tamil Nadu 89.49 87.9 90.83 90.08 90.32 Telangana 92.19 90.96 91.89 91.24 91.54 Tripura 71.54 75.26 75.09 76.00 76.89 Uttar Pradesh 79.37 80.29 83.35 84.52 86.29 Uttarakhand 86.04 85.85 85.59 86.11 86.31 West Bengal 79.03 84.84 83.28 83.75 84.63 Private Sector 88.44 88.25 90.07 89.42 90.33 National 84.17 86.08 86.98 86.91 87.59State wise collection efficiency (%) State/ UT FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 62.82 99.33 98.01 100 98.91 Andhra Pradesh 86.15 96.77 99.45 94.91 99.26 Arunachal Pradesh 100 95.88 86.30 95.12 89.31 Assam 99.78 100 100 99.60 100 Bihar 90.66 85.75 95.83 94.82 97.73 Chhattisgarh 98.55 100 100 98.06 100 Delhi 82.08 100 100 90.74 100 Goa 94.4 94.74 88.98 99.01 97.14 Gujarat 100 99.08 98.91 99.82 99.84 Haryana 99.5 100 98.84 99.10 97.92 Himachal Pradesh 100 99.82 100 99.26 89.20 Jharkhand 87.21 91.31 100 94.60 100 Karnataka 95.47 100 96.18 98.32 97.30 Kerala 99.92 100 100 98.10 100 Ladakh - 86.94 100 93.89 90.23 Madhya Pradesh 76.03 97.2 100 98.42 98.83 Maharashtra 85.32 99.6 97.37 90.69 97.34 Manipur 87.65 91.97 100 97.83 97.41 Meghalaya 100 93.48 97.91 100 98.89 Mizoram 100 90.9 100 100 97.88 Nagaland 96.47 100 94.64 96.26 95.11 Puducherry 90.75 100 89.73 92.08 94.36 Punjab 92.02 99.7 100 99.73 92.00 Rajasthan 91.53 100 100 93.93 98.96 Sikkim 2.23 88.95 100 100 100 Tamil Nadu 98.58 98.45 98.08 98.37 98.58 Telangana 94.01 98.23 88.53 88.76 87.56 Tripura 87.55 88.7 100 40.77 91.54 Uttar Pradesh 91.84 86.54 93.36 98.93 93.24 Uttarakhand 98.34 100 100 99.08 98.39 West Bengal 99.53 98.21 99.15 98.94 97.87 Private Sector 97.4 96.05 99.08 99.53 99.58 National 92.77 97.45 97.60 96.51 97.00 *******************