NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General has finalized its report on Delhi’s three private power distribution companies and has examined issues of gold plating and projections of accumulated losses by the companies to the tune of over Rs 20,000 crore.
The three private power distribution companies (discoms) – BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL); BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) and North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) – had projected an accumulated loss of Rs 20,000 crore, also called regulatory assets, for a period between 2002 and 2013-14.
The three discoms – Anil Ambani’s Reliance-owned BRPL and BYPL and the Tata-owned NDPL – are joint venture companies where the Delhi government has a 49% stake in each while the private entities have 51% holding. The auditor has examined the ‘statutory advice’ issued by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) to the Delhi government suggesting a bailout package.
The CAG report is believed to have made observations on whether the Rs 20,000 crore as mentioned in the DERC’s advice to the state government was justified or was it arbitrary.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had met CAG Shashi Kant Sharma on Tuesday and sought an early completion of the report on discoms. The CM had said that CAG’s findings would help the state government review its electricity tariff.