<p>Bescom was ranked 51st among 54 power distribution companies assessed across the country by the Ministry of Power. According to the 14th annual integrated rating and ranking report released by the ministry recently, Bescom received a C- rating and a red card for its poor performance on multiple parameters. </p><p>According to the findings of the report, Bescom has an accumulated loss of Rs 13,819 crore and standing loans of Rs 22,611 crore. In FY 2025 alone, the losses stood at 5,476 crore.</p><p>The exercise assessed the power utility’s performance on 15 base parameters including the collection efficiency, billing efficiency and transmission losses, and nine disincentives like availability of audit accounts and the auditor’s adverse opinion. </p> .<p>Bescom scored 12.44 out of 100 and the report noted that the power utility’s performance had slipped significantly compared to the 13th annual integrated rating and ranking report when it had scored 40.43 out of 100 and stood at the 34th rank with a grade of B-.</p><p>A red card was issued because of the adverse opinion of the auditor.</p><p>Surprisingly, none of Karnataka’s Escoms made it to the top 10 or top 20. At 26th rank, Mescom was the top performer from the state.</p>.<p>Experts opined that unless the government implements structural reforms, the situation of the ESCOMs may not improve.</p><p>“The Gurucharan committee report had suggested many reforms and those need to be implemented. There is an immediate need to introduce such structural and functional reforms to ensure that the ESCOMs are revived,” said M G Prabhakar, Former member of the KERC advisory committee.</p><p>Senior officials from the Energy department said that they have identified some issues and are working at improving the performance.</p><p>“We understand that there were some accounting issues. The receivables were not received and we could not adhere to a few accounting standards. We have now identified the problems and are working at improving our performance. However, on other aspects, our performance has been satisfactory. Our revenue growth is healthy,” said Gaurav Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary (Energy).</p>
<p>Bescom was ranked 51st among 54 power distribution companies assessed across the country by the Ministry of Power. According to the 14th annual integrated rating and ranking report released by the ministry recently, Bescom received a C- rating and a red card for its poor performance on multiple parameters. </p><p>According to the findings of the report, Bescom has an accumulated loss of Rs 13,819 crore and standing loans of Rs 22,611 crore. In FY 2025 alone, the losses stood at 5,476 crore.</p><p>The exercise assessed the power utility’s performance on 15 base parameters including the collection efficiency, billing efficiency and transmission losses, and nine disincentives like availability of audit accounts and the auditor’s adverse opinion. </p> .<p>Bescom scored 12.44 out of 100 and the report noted that the power utility’s performance had slipped significantly compared to the 13th annual integrated rating and ranking report when it had scored 40.43 out of 100 and stood at the 34th rank with a grade of B-.</p><p>A red card was issued because of the adverse opinion of the auditor.</p><p>Surprisingly, none of Karnataka’s Escoms made it to the top 10 or top 20. At 26th rank, Mescom was the top performer from the state.</p>.<p>Experts opined that unless the government implements structural reforms, the situation of the ESCOMs may not improve.</p><p>“The Gurucharan committee report had suggested many reforms and those need to be implemented. There is an immediate need to introduce such structural and functional reforms to ensure that the ESCOMs are revived,” said M G Prabhakar, Former member of the KERC advisory committee.</p><p>Senior officials from the Energy department said that they have identified some issues and are working at improving the performance.</p><p>“We understand that there were some accounting issues. The receivables were not received and we could not adhere to a few accounting standards. We have now identified the problems and are working at improving our performance. However, on other aspects, our performance has been satisfactory. Our revenue growth is healthy,” said Gaurav Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary (Energy).</p>