Page 9 - April_2024 Broucher.indd

Vishal Singh Patyal

Title: Performance evaluation of Indian electricity distribution companies: An integrated DEA-IRP-

TOPSIS approach

Journal: Energy Economics

Energy is a fundamental building block of human growth and plays a
significant role in developing emerging economies such as India. The

Indian electricity sector has a strong generation and transmission
system but a weak distribution system. This is considered the weakest

link in the electricity sector’s value chain, and regulators are primarily
concerned with the performance of electricity distribution companies

(DISCOMs). Despite numerous reforms introduced to attain financial

sustainability, most DISCOMs consistently incur losses and are financially unsustainable. Therefore, evaluating the
performance of DISCOMs is essential by measuring their efficiency to ensure competition among them and to

make reforms successful. This study aimed to identify and compare the performance efficiencies of 48 electricity
DISCOMs from 24 states across India between 2015/16 and 2018/19. This study used the integrated DEA-IRP-TOPSIS

technique to segment efficient and inefficient DISCOMs. The study recommends that states

provide operational and financial autonomy to power

Discoms. The study will be helpful for DISCOMs professionals
to understand their performance and design suitable
strategies based on efficiency assessments and their

position concerning their peers. By comparing Indian

DISCOMs with their contemporaries, this study contributes
new evidence at the policy level and to the literature on
the efficiency analysis of Indian DISCOMS.

Page 2