Madhya Pradesh Paschim Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited (MPPaKVVCL) is one of the three discoms in Madhya Pradesh, serving a consumer base of almost 5.79 million (as of March 2022). The company recorded energy sales of 24,528 MUs during 2021-22.
MPPaKVVCL has been steadily improving its operational performance over the years. Through the implementation of various technological initiatives, the discom has been able to serve its consumers more efficiently. In 2021-22, it saw a decline in aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, which dropped to 5.5 per cent from the previous year’s 16.31 per cent. Further, its collection efficiency is now over 100 per cent. One of the discom’s major successes is the installation of 120,000 smart meters in Indore, which has since become a case study for many other discoms across the country to follow. MPPaKVVCL also has a robust capex in place with plans to further strengthen its infrastructure and roll out more smart meters in the near future.
Network growth
MPPaKVVCL is a distribution licensee engaged in the functions of distribution and retail supply of electricity in the western part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It covers the Indore and Ujjain regions, spread over 15 circles, 55 divisions and 11,997 villages.
As of March 2022, MPPaKVVCL’s distribution network consisted of 336,814 ckt. km of distribution line length, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.4 per cent from 285,005 ckt. km in 2016-17. Of this, 54 per cent (181,144 ckt. km) is at the low tension (LT) level, followed by 41 per cent (137,059 ckt. km) at the 11 kV level and 6 per cent (18,611 ckt. km) at the 33 kV level. As of March 2022, the discom had 1,479 substations at the 33 kV level with a transformation capacity of 12,964 MVA, and 302,013 distribution transformers with a capacity of 17,620 MVA. The number of 33 kV substations had grown at a CAGR of 2.9 per cent from 1,285 substations in 2016-17. In addition, it owns 6,762 feeders at the 11 kV, and 1,029 at the 33 kV level.
Meanwhile, its consumer base has grown to 5.79 million as of March 2022 from 4.76 million as of March 2017, recording a CAGR of 4 per cent. The primary reason for the increase in the number of consumers is the implementation of various loss reduction schemes such as system strengthening, feeder separation, new agricultural pumps, transformer failure reduction, and procurement of smart meters, besides various central government schemes. Its consumer mix is dominated by domestic consumers, who account for 67 per cent (3.9 million) of its total consumer base, followed by agricultural/irrigation pump set consumers, accounting for 24 per cent (1.37 million). Non-domestic consumers account for 8 per cent (0.44 million), and other LT, high tension (HT) industries, waterworks and street lighting account for the rest (0.08 million).
Operational performance
MPPaKVVCL’s energy sales were recorded at 24,528 MUs during 2021-22. With regard to sales distribution, irrigation pump sets account for the maximum share (43 per cent), followed by HT consumers (24 per cent) and domestic consumers (23 per cent). Non-domestic consumers account for 5 per cent of the total sales, while other LT consumers account for 3 per cent, and public waterworks and street lighting for the remaining 2 per cent.
The AT&C losses of MPPaKVVCL have improved significantly from 18.09 per cent in 2017-18 to 5.5 per cent in 2021-22 through the adoption of various initiatives such as digitalisation, decarbonisation, decentralisation and demand-side management initiatives. Further, it can be attributed to reduced agricultural consumption during the year, and the state government clearing arrears for participating in the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), which improved the collection efficiency. MPPaKVVCL recorded improvement in collection efficiency from 98.62 per cent during 2017-18 to 106.91 per cent during 2021-22. Meanwhile, billing efficiency improved from 83.05 per cent during 2017-18 to 88.39 per cent during 2021-22.
The discom catered to a connected load of 12,452 MW during 2021-22 – LT load of 10,939 MW and HT load of 1,513 MW. The connected load increased at a CAGR of 5.5 per cent from 9,543 MW in 2016-17.
Key digitalisation initiatives
MPPaKVVCL is dedicated to improving customer service and has launched the Urjas web portal and app to make it easier for consumers to access various services. The Urjas platform provides an efficient and transparent platform to consumers that allows them to register their requests online, including new service connections, faulty meter replacement, bill correction, change in category and disconnection. It also has an online payment facility. Further, the discom has developed a next-generation billing system using open source technology. This in-house developed software is flexible, easily integrated and modular, and it allows for faster processing of billing data.
The discom has implemented a variety of enterprise resource planning modules such as supply chain management, finance, project management and human resource management. In addition, MPPaKVVCL has taken various operational technology initiatives, including implementation of a common meter data management solution that provides in-house reports with analytics and actions taken on those analytics. The discom has also implemented supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) in the cities of Indore and Ujjain.
MPPaKVVCL has been at the forefront of implementing smart metering technology. The company implemented the first smart metering project in India, using RF communication networks, on a large scale for 120,000 consumers in Indore city. The project was a success, achieving a return on investment in only two and a half years. The project also served as a case study, later adopted by many other discoms across the country. With the implementation of smart metering as well as advanced metering infrastructure systems, accurate and timely billing data of 1.33 million consumers was provided even during the Covid-19 pandemic. Smart metering was initially rolled out in selected zones in Indore city, and is now being expanded to 0.71 million smart meters under the RDSS.
Financial highlights
MPPaKVVCL recorded a loss of Rs 22.44 billion during 2021-22, as against a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 0.52 billion during 2020-21. The discom’s total income for 2021-22 stood at Rs 173.31 billion, compared to Rs 164.25 billion in the previous year, recording a year-on-year growth of 5.52 per cent. However, its expenses rose by 19.67 per cent to Rs 195.96 billion during 2021-22 from Rs 163.76 billion in the previous year. Power purchase and transmission costs contributed to the bulk of these expenses at Rs 160.96 billion, or 82 per cent. The discom incurred an actual capex of Rs 21.82 billion for the period of 2018-22 as against the planned capex of Rs 33.8 billion, which has helped reduce its AT&C loss while also increasing its consumer base. In the quarter ended September 2022, MPPaKVVCL recorded a profit of Rs 1.19 billion, total revenues of Rs 42.5 billion and expenditure of Rs 41.6 billion.
Future plans
MPPaKVVCL has planned various projects for the next four to five years for works including system strengthening, the RDSS, the transformer failure reduction, and installation of meters in areas with a high number of agricultural consumers. The discom’s planned financial commitment for the period 2022-27 is Rs 77.62 billion, with the RDSS accounting for the largest share at Rs 66.73 billion. The investment will focus on reducing AT&C losses, system strengthening to meet the enhanced load, improving reliability and implementing IT applications.
Overall, MPPaKVVCL has set out ambitious capex, capacity addition and technology upgrade plans, which will help the discom become more commercially viable and self-sustaining in the years to come.
With inputs from a presentation by Manoj Jhawar, Director, Commercial, MPPaKVVCL, at a recent Power Line conference
