India's Power Goals Further Out of Reach as Losses Rise
- 9-month losses rose 62% y/y as power purchase costs increase
- Structural reforms expected to yield results: Secretary Bhalla
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Losses by India’s power retailers are set to rise, reversing two years of declines they enjoyed since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government unveiled a plan to make the ailing utilities profitable.
Combined losses by state distributors that signed up for the federal government’s reform plan in the first nine months of the fiscal year rose to about 240 billion rupees ($3.4 billion), a 62 percent jump from a year earlier, amid an increase in coal and power costs, according to Ajay Kumar Bhalla, India’s power secretary.