Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Jul 30, 2002 |
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Industry & Economy
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Power Govt plans benchmarks for power regulatory panels Our Bureau
KOLKATA, July 29 THE Centre is planning to spell out some benchmarks for the electricity regulatory commissions, power sector sources said quoting Mr R.V. Shahi, the Union Power Secretary. Mr Shahi, who was here on Saturday on the occasion of the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the Ministry of Power and the West Bengal State Electricity Board, said that during his interaction with State Power Department officials that these benchmarks would be incorporated in the new tariff policy now under preparation. He said that some benchmarks for the regulatory commissions had become necessary in view of the "differential approach being employed by the various commissions.'' It may be mentioned here that in the first round of tariff setting by the commission, all the orders have been challenged in the court by the utilities. Mr Shahi, who addressed officials of the WBSEB as well as the other power utilities operating in the State, also spoke to the WBSEB unions and the officers' association, where he made it clear that future funding of projects by the lenders as well as the Centre would pivot on improved functioning. He said that the WBSEB would be given three years to turnaround its performance. "By 2004-05, we have been asked to bring down our losses from Rs 800 crore now to a zero level,'' Dr G.D. Gautama, the WBSEB Chairman, told Business Line. He said that this would entail a drastic reduction in the aggregate technical and commercial loss of WBSEB from 41 per cent to 20 per cent. Mr Shahi told the gathering that while the SEBs in Haryana and Andhra Pradesh will turnaround soon, those in Rajasthan and Karnataka were also doing well. Commenting on the adverse thermal-hydel mix in the eastern region (which was acute in West Bengal), he said that there was need to work out some short and medium term strategies for tackling it. In the short term, he suggested exporting surplus off-peak power to other regions. He estimated that around 1300 MW would be available for export through the new network of links being set up by the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. In the medium term, Mr Shahi favoured more of pumped storage schemes such as the one being set up in Purulia district by the WBSEB as a joint venture project with the National Hydro Electric Corporation. He was also concerned about the frequency fluctuations in the region and felt that this problem should be addressed earnestly. After the signing of the MoA between Dr Gautama and Mr Arvind Jadav, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, Mr Shahi spent 45 minutes with Mr Mrinal Banerjee, State Power Minister, where he said that the State Government's commitment to power reforms was an essential input for the country's economic development. He lauded the new law now in force for checking power theft, but added the rider that the critical part was its implementation.
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