Prayas Occasional Report 2/2003. This report attempts to shed light on one crucial area in the Indian power sector that has remained completely neglected even after so much debate on the privatization of power sector, viz., assessment of the performance of existing private distribution companies. It presents comparative analysis of the performance of six private distribution utilities, viz., Tata Power Company, BSES, Calcutta Electricity Supply Company, Surat Electric Company, Ahmedabad Electric Company and NOIDA Power Corporation. As an indicative exercise, comparable data of two public utilities, viz., (BEST, Mumbai) and Pune Urban Zone of MSEB are also presented. Based on this comparison, 'first-cut' observations about the performance of these utilities are drawn regarding five aspects, namely, T&D losses, receivables, manpower, distribution investments, and distribution cost. It is seen that even private utilities may not be free from the menace of large-scale commercial losses. The capital investments as well as the 'Distribution Costs' of these utilities show a large variation. For example, 'Distribution Cost' in Surat is Rs. 0.56 / U sold, whereas in the case of Mumbai and Kolkatta, it is over Rs. 1 / U sold. The report also highlights need for conducting in-depth performance review of the existing private distribution utilities. Such an analysis would offer valuable lessons to ensure that the new structure being adopted would be better than the regulatory and legislative framework designed few decades back. It would also help better understand the issues likely to be faced by regulators and consumers in future. The study also identifies important aspects that should be covered in an in-depth performance review of private distribution utilities.