POWER UTILITIES REQUIRE MORE MONEY TO BUY

Link

POWER UTILITIES REQUIRE MORE MONEY TO BUY, TRANSMIT POWER; BUDGET FAILS TO DELIVER PROMISES

The power sector got a rude shock when the government allocated only Rs 6,040 crore as against its requirement of Rs 10,936 crore in the state Budget.

The energy coordination committee recently submitted a report to the government stating that the sector needs more money this year in the backdrop of increased duration of free power to farmers.

While the APTransco and APGenco, the two premier institutions which look after power supply in the state, need more money to pay for buying and generating power, the government has allocated some money to run the show. Payments are yet to be made for power bought last year and the bills had crossed Rs 6,000 crore last year itself. At the same time, the power supply to the farm sector increased to nine hours from the existing seven hours. This will need an additional Rs 1,230 crore as per Transco estimates.
And the annual subsidy which is already ratified by the Electricity Regulatory Commission would be around Rs 3,486 crore.

"There is an urgent need to improve the transmission and distribution systems which need massive investments. This sector has been neglected for the last five years due to lack of funds," pointed out a senior official in the energy department.

Dilapidated sub-stations, hanging wires, damaged poles and age-old transformers need huge investments to be able to withstand the unprecedented rise in the power demand in last three years. The energy department fears that there will be further delay in commissioning transmission and distribution schemes as there was little money left after paying the power bills.

"The government has given more money than what was allocated in the previous Budget. Last year, against Budget allocation of Rs 2,419.81crore, the government had released more than Rs 5,000 crore to buy and subsidise power. We are confident that whenever there is a need, the government will help us," said Mr Ajay Jain, joint managing director of APTransco.