For decades, Goa’s Electricity Department has operated a loss-making system, managing the power wheeling infrastructure that receives electricity from the national grid and distributes it across the State through its intra-State network, ultimately delivering power to end consumers. Each year, the State government pumps in Rs 300 to Rs 400 crore to cover the losses. That scenario, however, may change over the next five years, as the department claims in its business plan that it will turn profitable by 2030. 'The Goan' dives deep into Goa’s power sector and how the government plans to meet the State’s energy needs up to 2030
PANAJI
The Goa Electricity Department, with nil budgetary support from the State government, is a scenario that none would imagine in a situation where, year after year, some Rs 300–400 crore has been pumped in for decades. But it is exactly what the Goa Electricity Department is proposing to do, according to the five-year business plan and tariff petition, which was recently scrutinised at a public hearing by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC).
In the final year of this five-year period, the revenue and capital expenditure borne by the Goa government for the electricity department will be nil, according to this business plan for 2025–30, eloquently presented at a hearing by the Chief Electrical Engineer, Stephen Fernandes.
So, what's the magic?
Tariff hikes, obviously. The plan also includes consumer reclassification measures and massive infrastructure investments to enhance the performance of the sector in Goa.
Under the Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) framework, the GED has proposed tariff hikes of under 6% in the first three years, by which it aims to bridge the projected revenue gaps of ₹408.8 crore in 2025–26, ₹188.7 crore in 2026–27, and ₹96.1 crore in 2027–28. It forecasts a revenue surplus of Rs 45 crore in 2028–29 and Rs 127.5 crore in the final 2029–30 year.
Five-year business plan
What will affect the consumer, meanwhile, is paying higher amounts for their monthly energy consumption, with increases in fixed charges and energy rates for domestic consumers. However, for the industrial consumers, while they will obviously be paying more than the current levels under the new tariff plan, the 'adjustments to time-of-day tariffs' for high-tension industrial and commercial users give them an opportunity to calibrate their energy consumption during the day and pay less.
For instance, power will be costlier during the evening hours when demand is higher, and so industries may have to calibrate their production processes to do more work during the morning and first half of the day, thus paying less for their energy consumption.
In its five-year business plan from 2025–26 right up to 2029–30, the GED has also proposed hikes in tariffs of 5.64% and 4.88% in 2026–27 and 2027–28, respectively, and unchanged tariffs in the last two years. The hike in tariffs will apply to all categories of consumers, including domestic and low-income domestic consumers who consume up to 50 units with a connected load of up to 150 kW.
Rs 6,000 crore infra investments
According to the CEE, Stephen Fernandes, the department has planned to invest over Rs 6,000 crore to develop infrastructure over these five years — on the already ongoing underground cabling, to establish new sub-stations, replace the ageing transformers and conductors, and several other initiatives.
These investments, Fernandes had said in his presentation to the JERC at the public hearing, will help improve the reliability and efficiency of the State's power distribution network and therefore ensure better quality power supply to the consumer.
Reforms in billing
In a major reform, the department is proposing to reclassify and precisely categorise consumers for the purposes of billing.
It plans to classify temples, churches, mosques and religious institutions as a separate category. Also being reclassified are garages, wellness centres, villas and farmhouses.
Hitherto, all these power consumers were being categorised as a single category — 'Low Tension Domestic' (LTD) consumers — and will be paying much higher costs for the power they consume once the new tariff plan gets the JERC's nod and is implemented, which, according to Fernandes, could be as early as June–July this year.
There will also be distinct and new categorisation of several other types of consumers, such as government research institutions, government-aided institutions and hospitals, besides public charitable trust-run organisations, which are currently being billed either as low-tension domestic (LTD) or low-tension commercial (LTC) consumers.
T&D losses: GED falls short
An aggregate 12 per cent loss of power through transmission and distribution losses in this five-year business plan is a matter of concern, even if it is well below the national average, which hovers around the 14–15% mark.
In the current 2025–26 fiscal, 12.2% of the 6,523.71 million units it proposes to purchase are projected as likely to be lost in T&D losses — 7.95% on the grid within the State and 4.25% on the inter-State grid. In 2026–27, the T&D losses are projected at 12.06% — 7.93% intra-State and 4.13% inter-State. The losses will be 7.92% on the intra-State grid and 4.02% on the inter-State grid in 2027–28.
Only in the last year of this five-year period (2029–30) do the T&D losses fall below the 12% mark, at 11.70%. T&D losses in Goa have historically been a significant issue and have stubbornly remained above the 12% mark, grossly impacting the cost of power for the end-consumer.
The GED, however, does not touch on the aspect of tackling commercial losses owing to power theft in its business plan. Back in 2018–19, the Central government-owned Power Finance Corporation (PFC), which significantly funded Goa's power infrastructure investments for several years, had pegged Goa's Aggregate Technical and Commercial (ATC) losses at a whopping 15.68%. These losses were even higher in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when power-guzzling steel rolling mills proliferated in the State's industrial estates and were often accused of politically-aided power theft.
Demand expected to rise by 50% in five years
The GED's business plan indicates that Goa's power demand is expected to grow by nearly 50 per cent by 2030.
From 6,523.71 million units, which it says is the requirement in the current financial year, the GED business plan pegs the requirement in 2029–30 at 10,132.35 million units. In the current financial year, the GED will be purchasing 6,523.71 million units, of which it says it will lose 12.20% (763.03 million units) to transmission losses, both at the inter-State and intra-State grids combined.
Next year (2026–27), the GED says it will be required to purchase 7,206.36 million units, again expecting to lose 828.45 million units of these (12.06%) to T&D losses. In 2027–28, it will purchase 8,001.48 million units, losing 908.48 million units (11.94%) to T&D losses.
In 2028–29, the demand is projected to be 8,952.97 million units, and a year later, in 2029–30, the demand for power will jump to 10,132.35 million units.
