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N. Ramakrishnan

Chennai , May 14

WITH the deadline for unbundling electricity boards approaching, only two States have approached the Union Power Ministry to further extend the deadline.

In June 2004, shortly after the United Progressive Alliance Government assumed office, the Union Power Ministry extended the time for those States that had not unbundled their electricity boards by one year, up to June 9, 2005.

The Electricity Act 2003 mandates that all State electricity boards (SEBs) be reorganised into distinct generation, transmission and distribution entities.

With less than a month left for the SEBs to be reorganised, two States - Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal - have approached the Union Power Ministry for more time. Madhya Pradesh has asked for two more years after June 9, 2005 and West Bengal has sought one more year.

"Their requests are under consideration. We will consult the Law Ministry and see what can be done," the Union Power Minister, Mr P.M. Sayeed, said here on Saturday.

Assam, Gujarat and Tripura, which had also been given extension, have now reorganised their electricity boards, while Maharashtra has decided to go ahead with the restructuring. The States that have time till June 9 to restructure their SEBs are Kerala, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand. These have not yet sought extension of deadline.

On whether the Power Ministry would grant the extension, Mr Sayeed said that the Electricity Act 2003 was the law of the land and only the Law Ministry could decide on what could be done. It was up to the Law Ministry to look into the possibility of extending the deadline and, if so, by what timeframe.

Even before the Electricity Act came into being, eight States had reorganised their electricity boards. This had indicated that there was greater attention to generation with rewarding results.

Mr Sayeed said no State had objected to the provisions of the Act, but had only sought extension of time.

The Minister said he had told the Left Parties recently that reorganisation did not necessarily mean privatisation. The Act only required the electricity board to be reorganised into distinct entities, handling generation, transmission and distribution, so that there is greater focus on each aspect.

Reorganisation is not the same as privatisation, he had told the Left Parties, which are supporting the Government from outside. "It (the reorganisation) is for efficient management and better accountability," said Mr Sayeed.

On coal shortage and the consequent impact on generation, Mr Sayeed said three specific actions had been taken. The first, a short-term measure, was to meet the shortfall through imports. The proposal was to import 12 million tonnes of coal in 2005-06.

The Coal Ministry and coal companies had been directed to improve production from the existing mines as well as develop new mines quickly. Many new coal mines had been sanctioned recently. The Government had also decided to allot captive coal blocks to captive power plants to overcome the problem in the medium term.

The Power Ministry had held a meeting with 10 agencies and all of them had drawn up their plans. In four years, starting 2006-07, about 40 million tonnes of coal will be mined for captive consumption.

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