look at the five states where elections have been held reveals a mixed bag in terms of their achievements in power, a key constituent of the bijli, sadak, paani troika and which is often used as a yardstick for how governments have delivered on basic infrastructure.
The smaller states generally seem to have done better on key measurable parameters such as augmenting capacity at the generation end and cutting down on technical and commercial losses on the distribution side.
Even those that have done well seem to have focused their attention more on the upstream generation side, while the downstream distribution segment continues to do badly, with Delhi being the only exception.
Chhattisgarh
On power generation capacity, Chhattisgarh has made significant progress in facilitating pit-head projects, aided by the local availability of coal resources.
Private generation projects of about 22,000 MW are under construction and expected to start during the current five-year plan period. Plants of about 10,000 MW with MoUs signed have had land acquired, water supply contracted and environment clearances granted, but further progress has slowed down due to non-availability of coal. Plus, the Chhattisgarh State Generation Company has commissioned a 500 MW unit at Korba and another of 1,000 MW at Marwa is in advanced stages of commissioning.
On the flip side, the 1,320 MW Bhaiyathan project, Chhattisgarh’s showcase, has been stuck in a morass for five years. Quotes had been invited in October 2008, and the project, which came with captive coal blocks in Korba, was awarded to Indiabulls for a benchmark tariff of 81 paise per unit, one of the lowest rates discovered through the tariff-based competitive bidding route. The mines, however, could not receive forest clearance and the project has been stuck since.
On rural electrification, the Centre has placed the performance of Chhattisgarh — specifically with respect to the implementation of the former’s flagship Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana —under the “unsatisfactory” category. Chhattisgarh has, in turn, blamed the central PSUs — NESCL, NHPC and PGCIL — that were appointed implementing agencies.
Also, Chhattisgarh has been reluctant to come to terms with the provisions of the Financial Restructuring Scheme for Power Distribution Companies, wherein 50 per cent of the outstanding short-term liabilities (STL) as on March 31, 2012, are to be taken over by the respective state governments. This amounts to about Rs 550 crore in the case of the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Co. Ltd. The government has said absorbing the STL may excessively burden the budget and sought a change in the structure of the scheme.
Delhi
Delhi has made significant progress in ramping up capacity in sync with rising demand, despite constraints of land and fuel. Last fiscal, Delhi met a peak of 5,642 MW, up from 4,408 MW in 2009-10, and is gearing up to meet a peak of 6,000 MW this fiscal. The state’s own generation capacity increased from 982 MW to 2,200 MW during the 11th plan and another 2,800 MW is proposed to be added during the 12th, taking the total capacity to around 5,000 MW.
On the distribution side, Delhi’s aggregate losses are down from 25.18 per cent four years ago to 15.15 per cent in 2011-12, as compared to the national average of 26.15 per cent. But the financial positions of the three private distribution utilities, especially the two run by BSES, are reported to be in bad shape.
Among showcase projects, the first 750-MW phase of the Bawana plant was commissioned in 2010-11. While the second 750-MW phase is almost ready for commissioning, the lack of supply of enough gas is holding up progress. Also, the project for islanding Delhi, which would put it on par with Mumbai, is being implemented and expected to be completed by 2013-end or 2014.
Madhya Pradesh
Generation capacity is up from 6,418.8 MW in March 2006 to 10,698.6 in March 2013. This is largely on account of capacity set up by central sector utilities, which have almost doubled capacity from 1,715.85 MW to 3,526.1 MW during the period. Also, while AT&C losses have come down from 37.79 per cent to 27.11 per cent between 2009 and 2012, these are still higher than the national average. The government says revenues have increased from Rs 4,521 crore in 2003 to 15,284 crore in 2013.
The government’s promises include 24×7 supply to non-agricultural consumers, 10 hours quality power for agriculture, and to make the state energy-surplus by 2014 with a focused thrust on solar, wind, small hydro and biomass projects. The contribution of renewable energy sources is targeted to go up from 5.31 per cent (499 MW) to 17 per cent (3,200 MW) by June 2015.
Mizoram
The small northeastern state managed to increase its installed capacity during the 11th plan by 15.6 MW and build 168.49 km additional transmission lines. Transmission and distribution losses at the beginning of the 11th plan were estimated at 52 per cent, which was brought down to 29.16 per cent by the end of the period. Plus, under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, the state electrified 94 villages (68.6 per cent of a target of 137), gave BPL connections to 15,144 households (55.2 per cent of the targeted 27,417) and set up four 33-kV substations, broadly on target. The construction of the Tuirial HEP (60 MW) by NEEPCO is reported to be progressing well and the government has cleared its equity share of Rs. 41.14 crore for evacuation of power from the Pallatana gas-based project.
Rajasthan
During the 11th Plan, the state added 4,219 MW to its capacity, with another 860 MW added during 2012-13, taking the total installed capacity to 11,168 MW. Another 3,415 MW from conventional sources is likely to be added by March 2014.
As part of the Congress government’s “vision 2017”, the state hopes to become “self-sufficient” in power generation by the end of 2013-14. Also, electrification is under way in all revenue villages with a population over 300 under the RGGVY. Rajasthan has been proactive in offering support of Rs 8,954.89 crore to its power utilities and is implementing a restructuring plan of Rs 19,254 crore proposed under the Centre’s debt restructuring scheme. Plus, the state has been aggressively promoting generation from renewable energy sources.
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