Better days seem to be ahead for the country’s electricity sector, especially power distribution utilities, including power departments, commonly known as DISCOMs. One may argue that loss-making is a legacy matter, as these power utilities — in their previous ‘avatar’, State Electricity Boards (SEBs), formed under the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 — were mostly in the red. In mid-January, the Union government also made public the performance details of DISCOMs for the financial year that ended March 31, 2025. As Niti Aayog noted in its August 2021 study on the distribution sector, DISCOMs should be proactive in promoting the use of solar pumps in agriculture, a move that would lead to a significant decrease in power procurement costs. Political will, combined with public-spirited bureaucracy, can easily transform the face of DISCOMs into that of viable and consumer-friendly entities.

Source: The Hindu February 05, 2026 18:33 UTC