Step up metering of IP sets: Prabhu

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, FEB. 25. The Union Minister for Power, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, has said that the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was pursuing the question of setting up a mega project in Dakshina Kannada District to generate 2000 MW. of power.

It may be noted that Mr. Prabhu's predecessor, Late Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, had in July last made the announcement regarding the NTPC project at the time of signing the MoU with the Karnataka Government on power sector reforms.

Mr. Prabhu, who was participating in an interaction with newspaper editors and senior journalists, described the reforms undertaken in the State on the power front as ``good''. However, he said that the State had to step up the metering of irrigation pumpset connections. The interaction was aimed at defending the reform process and buy support. The Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Board, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, said that the hesitation on part of some financial institutions to assist in the commissioning of the seventh unit of the Raichur Thermal Power Station had nothing to do with the pace of reforms in the State.

Mr. Prabhu who hails from Maharashtra, attributed the problems faced by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board with regard to the Enron Power Project to drawbacks in the agreement regarding distribution of the power generated.

At the outset, Mr. Prabhu said that it was wrong to presume that power sector reforms would result in higher tariff. It might be so in the initial stages. In the longer run it might even lead to lowering of the tariff with better generation. The main problem faced by the country was with regard to distribution.

A note on the status of reforms given by the minister showed that Karnataka is one of the 15 States to set up the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Besides the Karnataka commission, those of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat have issued tariff orders. The North-Eastern States of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim are willing to constitute a joint electricity regulatory commission. Assam has constituted a separate commission and is going to select the chairman and the members. Arunachal Pradesh has notified the constitution of a commission. West Bengal too has constituted a commission and proposed the new tariff.

The report says that Karnataka is one of the nine States which have gone ahead with reforms and also ``unbundled'' themselves. The others are Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Gujarat. Orissa is the first State to privatise in full the distribution of electricity. Its revenue has registered a 30 per cent increase. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi have envisaged privatisation of distribution. However, Karnataka is listed among the States which have not reported any significant improvement as they have unbundled themselves without privatisation of distribution. The others are Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. Attempts are being made to privatise distribution in Delhi and Kanpur. It has been found that privatisation of distribution in urban areas without an impact on consumer tariff is a viable proposition. The report shows that Delhi has the highest transmission and distribution losses of 55 per cent. The cost of power theft for the country as a whole has been put at Rs. 20,000 crores. The main cause for the financial decline of the electricity undertakings is that cost of supply (average Rs. 2.80 a unit) is more than the revenue realised (average Rs.2.07 a unit). The reduction in generation cost to international standards is necessary in the globalised context and a committee has been appointed in that regard.

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