Energetica India 89 - May 2020

Govt. Provides Economic Stimulus to Power Discoms with Liquidity worth Rs. 90,000 Crore As part of its plan to convey India’s economy back on track, India will de- liver ` 90,000 crore liquidity injection for the fund-starved electricity distribution companies (discoms). This was declared by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman as one of the 15 measures in the first tranche to combat the economic disruption from the coro- navirus lockdown, that has deteriorated the already perilous finances of power discoms. “Discoms today are facing unmatched cash flow problems,” Sitharaman said. This ` 90,000 crore will help in clearing the outstanding dues of discoms by state owned financial institutions. State-owned Power Finance Corpora- tion (PFC) and Rural Electrification Cor - poration (REC) will instill the liquidity by raising an amount of about ` 90,000 crores from the market against the re- ceivables of discoms. The state gov- ernments will provide a security. “We want the benefit passed to the customers…we are making it clear that these benefits should pass to the end consumers,” she believed. This one-time time liquidity infusion will be used to pay the central public sector power generation companies, transmission companies, independent power producers and renewable ener- gy generators. State-owned PFC and REC have $80 billion by assets and are the largest lenders to the power sector. The idea is to clear the payment backlog with the concessional loans guaranteed by the respective state governments. These loans would be distributed in two tranches and will be linked to certain reforms such as increasing digital pay- ment interfaces; prepaid metering in government departments and making action plans for loss reduction among others. India Advances as 5th Largest Energy Economy; Secures 3rd Rank in Renewable Energy Investments India ranks at the fifth position among the countries of the world when it comes to the size of its energy econ- omy, measured by the combined reve- nue of energy companies. The country also ranks 3rd on renewable energy investment and future plans, according to a new study by British Business En- ergy. The London-based firm analysed 29 countries to find out which countries are leading the way for the energy indus- try. The countries were ranked by their revenue from energy companies, and in comparison to their GDP, the number of employees in the energy sector and a renewable energy score. Among all the energy companies com- bined, the USA takes the lead as the world’s top energy earner. Home to notable names such as Exxon Mo- bil, Chevron and Phillips 66 - the USA makes over $1 trillion through energy companies. China takes second place, earning just under $837 million and Russia in third with a much lower figure of $464 million. “As a global population we are becom- ing more environmentally conscious, but with the demand for energy in- creasing it’s important to highlight the economies which are leading the way for revenue but also employment and renewable energy production,” Ian Wright, Managing Director, British Busi- ness Energy said. Among the top countries who are in- vesting in, partially using or have plans to use renewable energy in the near fu- ture, the USA is ranked 1 with a score of 7, followed by Brazil at 6.5 and India with a score of 6.3. Netherlands comes first when the com - panies are ranked based on the share of the energy industry to their GDP. The Netherlands actually sees just under half of its nominal GDP attributable to energy companies at 46.76 per cent, closely followed by Russia at 29.41 per cent. Hong Kong is the world leader when it comes to energy employment - with every 18th person out of 1,000 being employed in the energy sector. While for Russia’s working population, every 17th person out 1,000 is in an energy related job, the country also features in the top five countries for revenue and contributions to GDP. NEWS NEWS 10 energetica INDIA- May_2020