By Bizodish Bureau, Bhubaneswar, December 8, 2016 : The Odisha government on Thursday asked the four power distribution companies [Discom] to bring down the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (ATC) losses to 30% by end of this fiscal.

Presiding a high level official meeting, chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi directed the Discoms to reduce the ATC losses of four Discoms viz Cesu, Wesco, Nesco and Southco at 30% by the end of March from the current level of 34%.

Padhi also underscored the need for higher revenue collection to beef up the Discoms as well as reining in power theft. Moreover, steps will be taken to withdraw faulty meters.

The meeting revealed that by the March 2015, the ATC losses had come down to 38%, which further went down to 36% in 2015-16. In this fiscal, the Discoms have been clearly told to bring down to 30%. By the end of November, the Discoms have been able to bring down the ATC losses to 34%.