Time for action
The committees can not stem power losses.
By ET Bureau |
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appointed yet another panel of wise men to look into power transmission and distribution losses of over Rs 40,000 crore per annum. Considering the wealth of expert reports, reviews and status reports that we have accumulated over the last 20 years of putative power sector reforms, what is clearly required now is concrete action on the ground.
What’s plain is that aggregate technical and commercial losses in power distribution are much too high. The huge leakages are due to inadequate investment in line capacity, dated transformers, the lack of metering and the like, but mostly due to open theft of electricity and its political patronage. Fortunately, reforming states like Gujarat have demonstrated political and administrative will to stem losses in power distribution including in rural areas, and boost the quality of supply in the process.
Under Gujarat’s Jyotigram programme, there’s separation of feeder lines: a heavy-duty one for tubewells and a light-duty one for domestic use and small-scale manufacturing and services. The idea is that consumers get 24×7 power supply for non-agricultural purposes, enhancing both domestic and commercial possibilities. But tubewell power is restricted to eight hours, providing enough water for crops, thus avoiding over-pumping from aquifers and attendant misuse . The dual-feeder system does cost extra: under the scheme, panchayats are required to pay 30% of the estimate cost or Rs 25,000, whichever is more, with the balance 70% met by the state government.
It’s public-private partnership all right, and the electricity utility in Gujarat is one of the very few profitable ones. Reportedly, the total investment for Jyotigram was about Rs 1,500 crore for the entire state. We surely need to scale up the programme pan-India . In tandem, theft of power needs to be declared a criminal, and not merely a civil, offence, and the law duly enforced. The prime minister’s office can help in two areas: making the financial accounting of state utilities transparent and public, putting an end to populism and giveaways in the power sector.
What’s plain is that aggregate technical and commercial losses in power distribution are much too high. The huge leakages are due to inadequate investment in line capacity, dated transformers, the lack of metering and the like, but mostly due to open theft of electricity and its political patronage. Fortunately, reforming states like Gujarat have demonstrated political and administrative will to stem losses in power distribution including in rural areas, and boost the quality of supply in the process.
Under Gujarat’s Jyotigram programme, there’s separation of feeder lines: a heavy-duty one for tubewells and a light-duty one for domestic use and small-scale manufacturing and services. The idea is that consumers get 24×7 power supply for non-agricultural purposes, enhancing both domestic and commercial possibilities. But tubewell power is restricted to eight hours, providing enough water for crops, thus avoiding over-pumping from aquifers and attendant misuse . The dual-feeder system does cost extra: under the scheme, panchayats are required to pay 30% of the estimate cost or Rs 25,000, whichever is more, with the balance 70% met by the state government.
It’s public-private partnership all right, and the electricity utility in Gujarat is one of the very few profitable ones. Reportedly, the total investment for Jyotigram was about Rs 1,500 crore for the entire state. We surely need to scale up the programme pan-India . In tandem, theft of power needs to be declared a criminal, and not merely a civil, offence, and the law duly enforced. The prime minister’s office can help in two areas: making the financial accounting of state utilities transparent and public, putting an end to populism and giveaways in the power sector.
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