“State Distribution Utilities Third Annual Integrated Rating” Released by Shri Piyush Goyal

Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and NRE released the book ” State Distribution Utilities Third Annual Integrated Rating” here recently.So far rating exercises has been completed for the rating years 2011-12 and 2012-13. Now the third exercise for the rating year 2013-14 covering 40 state distribution utilities has been completed by designated credit rating agencies.All the four state distribution utilities in the state of Gujarat and the distribution utility in Punjab figure in the top most category of A+ . Two utilities have been placed in A category, 23 utilities in category B+ / B and 10 utilities in category C+ / C.

The integrated rating methodology for state power distribution utilities was developed by Ministry of Power with active involvement of Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), distribution utilities and credit rating agencies CRISIL, ICRA and CARE. The methodology was given final shape in consultation with Department of Financial Services – MoF, IBA and major Public Sector Banks. The methodology was unveiled by Ministry of Power in the Power Ministers Conference in July 2012. PFC was mandated to coordinate the rating exercise to be conducted annually rating agencies ICRA and CARE were selected to carry out the annual rating exercise for three years. The exercise cover 40 state power distribution utilities and does not cover private utilities and state power/energy departments.

The methodology is objective. The rated utilities are aware of the scoring criteria adopted and are informed of the scores assigned. The external rating agencies ICRA/CARE discuss the scores assigned with the individual utilities before finalizing the rating report.

The main objectives of developing the integrated rating methodology for the state distribution utilities are:

· To devise a mechanism for incentivizing/dis-incentivising the entities in order to improve their operational & financial performance.

· To facilitate assessment by Banks/FIs of the risks associated with lending exposures to various distribution utilities and enable funding with appropriate loan covenants for bringing improvement in operational, financial and managerial performance.

· May serve as a basis for Government of India assistance to the state power sector under various initiatives.