Assessment of baseline aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses for towns of Tamil Nadu under restructured accelerated power development and reforms programme (R-APDRP), Ministry of Power, Government of India
Student name: Ms Akanksha Jain
Guide: Dr Manipadma Datta
Year of completion: 2012
Host Organisation: ICRA Management Consulting Services Limited
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr Sunil Varma Marri
Abstract: The government of India considers the reduction of Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses in
power distribution as one of the foremost challenges in the Indian Power Sector. As of now, power generation
has attracted significant investment with many private players like Adani, Jaypee, Reliance, Tata and Torrent
etc. making huge investments in power generation. But power distribution still remains the weakest link in the
whole power supply chain. Power distribution being the revenue generating side of the power sector needs
urgent attention as it is the ailing with sub- standard distribution network, poor quality equipment, high
commercial losses and poor health of distribution companies (DISCOMS) among others.
The Ministry of Power (MoP) has already initiated several measures towards reforms and performance
improvement in power distribution. One prominent initiative among such efforts is Restructured Accelerated
Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) which started in July 2008 with a fund allocation of
50,000 crore and focuses on actual, demonstrable performance in terms of sustained loss reduction.
Establishment of reliable and automated systems for sustained collection of accurate base line data, and the
adoption of Information Technology in the areas of energy accounting are essential before taking up the regular
distribution strengthening projects.
This report is enumerates the method of calculation of AT&C losses and estimates AT&C losses of 31 towns of
Tamil Nadu. Under R-APDRP, towns having AT&C loss percentage of more than 15% are provided funding for
strengthening and revamp of existing distribution network.
As a result, 20 towns have AT&C loss percentage of greater than 15% and are eligible for funding for
strengthening and improvement of existing distribution network. The main reasons for higher AT&C losses are
poor billing and collection efficiency, which can be improved by complete metering of all (domestic as well as
agricultural ) consumers, segregation of rural/agricultural feeders, implementation of feeder wise consumer
indexing and Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) systems and training and development of DISCOM employees.
