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Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has raised nearly ₹3,000-crore revenue through the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) programme.
UJALA is the LED-based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) launched in January 2015 with a target of replacing 77- crore incandescent lamps with LED bulbs. The programme was implemented by EESL, a joint venture of public sector enterprises under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power.
“EESL has earned nearly ₹3,000-crore revenue from the UJALA programme in the past four years. This has been accrued from the sale of LED bulbs to consumers. These 32.5-crore bulbs have been sold between ₹70 to ₹180 per bulb to the consumers,” Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director at Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, told BusinessLine .
“There were two models under the LED distribution programme. The consumer could make an upfront payment for the LED bulbs or pay for the bulbs in instalments of ₹10 per month that were billed along with the electricity consumed,” he said.
But, some industry watchers have raised suspicions that EESL is having a hard time recovering dues through instalments from State government-controlled power distribution companies (DISCOMs) that are collecting them.
Rubbishing the claims, Kumar said, “Nearly 95 per cent of the consumers have gone for an upfront payment while the remaining 5 per cent went for the instalment scheme. Recovery from these consumers has been as per schedule.”
But EESL’s revenue did not meet expectations during 2017-2018 and it grew to ₹1,400 crore during the year from ₹1,200 crore in 2016-17. Commenting on the EESL’s financial performance in 2018-2019, Kumar said, “Our top line has doubled over the last one year.”
As revenue streams improve, EESL is eyeing a dip in the share markets to raise capital through an Initial Public Offering in 2019-2020. This IPO has been in the buzz since May 2017 and has been deferred twice before.
Commenting on the current status of the IPO, Kumar said, “We would like to wait for another year before approaching the bourses as we will have a steady revenue stream from some of our projects that are underway by then.”
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