Chandigarh (Balwinder Singh): In a major move to advance power sector reforms, the Distribution Reform Committee chaired by Haryana Chief Minister-appointed Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi has approved additional power infrastructure works worth 912.70 crore rupees under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme. The committee has also cleared the proposal to be forwarded to the Power Finance Corporation and the Ministry of Power for consideration and formal approval by the RDSS Monitoring Committee. This strategic investment comes at a time when Haryana’s power distribution companies have emerged among the top-performing utilities in the country, registering a significant decline in line losses alongside major improvements in operational efficiency.
During the high-level review meeting, Chief Secretary Rastogi assessed the physical and financial progress of the RDSS projects being executed by the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. A sharp decline in Aggregate Technical and Commercial losses was highlighted as a landmark achievement for the state. DHBVN successfully reduced its AT&C losses from a baseline of 16.93 percent in 2020-21 to 9.54 percent in 2024-25. Concurrently, UHBVN slashed its losses from 17.21 percent to 9.33 percent over the same period. Both state discoms have substantially outperformed the national average loss rate of 15.04 percent, underscoring the success of Haryana’s localized power sector interventions.
According to data presented by the Commissioner and Secretary of the Energy Department, Ashima Brar, the state’s billing efficiency increased from 82.95 percent in 2020-21 to 90.12 percent in 2024-25, comfortably surpassing the national standard of 87.59 percent. Furthermore, the collection efficiency has consistently hovered around the 100 percent mark, reflecting strong financial discipline and effective revenue management across the state’s utilities. Senior officials informed the committee that projects worth 5,165.61 crore rupees for DHBVN and 1,527.54 crore rupees for UHBVN have been sanctioned under the broader RDSS framework, bringing the total approved expenditure to approximately 6,700 crore rupees. Out of this, works worth more than 5,071 crore rupees have already been allocated, while additional projects are in various stages of tendering and execution.
The newly approved 912.70 crore rupee infrastructure package allocates specific funds to critical modernization segments across the state. This includes 169 crore rupees dedicated to loss-reduction works in the Palwal circle, covering the Palwal and Nuh districts. Another 414 crore rupees will fund the establishment of 30 new 33 KV substations and the comprehensive technological upgradation of 72 existing substations. Additionally, 329.70 crore rupees will be deployed to implement advanced Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems and Distribution Management Systems in Hisar and other major urban centers.
UHBVN and DHBVN Managing Director Vikram Singh noted that the newly sanctioned substation projects will inject approximately 1,175 MVA of additional transformation capacity into the state’s power distribution grid, making the network far more resilient for domestic, agricultural, and industrial consumers. The deployment of SCADA and DMS technologies will enable real-time monitoring and digital management of the grid, facilitating rapid fault detection, accelerating supply restoration, and improving overall consumer services. Currently, UHBVN has recorded over 51 percent physical and 50 percent financial progress on its active projects, while DHBVN has secured over 40 percent physical and financial completion in its loss-reduction works, with all ongoing projects targeted for full completion by 2027-28.
