Business Line

APEPDCL registered lowest distribution losses in the country
Visakhapatnam, May 5:

Industry in the Vizag region, and Andhra Pradesh in general, is facing no power woes this summer and only during April there was some load shedding, as consumption touched the peak, according to Mr Ahmad Nadeem, Chairman and Managing Director of the AP Eastern Power Distribution Company Ltd (APEPDCL).

He made the statement at an interaction session organised here on Thursday by the Vizag zone of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He said that during April, power consumption in the State touched the peak of 265 million units a day against the generation of 255 MUs a day and the deficit of 10 MUs a day caused some problem for a few days. “For 17 days or so, in April there was load-shedding. Even then the State Government purchased power from other states to tide over the crisis. Since then, the position has improved and there will be no problem for the rest of the summer, either for industry, or agriculture, or for the domestic consumers,” he said.

Mr Nadeem said APEPDCL registered lowest distribution losses in the country of all the Government discoms, with only seven per cent, for the second year in succession. “This is an achievement we are proud of. We are taking further steps to improve power supply in rural areas and for power saving,” he said.

He explained that five-star rating transformers were being installed and more number of sub-stations were being set up in rural areas to improve power supply. “If we provide quality power in the rural areas, the industry will be encouraged to set up more units there as the land costs are cheaper. The migration to urban areas can be reduced. Power is a critical component,” he said and added that on a pilot basis power supply to the agriculture sector was being segregated in some of the areas served by the APEPDCL. Separate feeders were being set up. If successful, the project would be taken up all over the State and it may cost Rs 450 crore or so, he added.

He said pre-paid metering was also being considered seriously by APEPDCL but it may take sometime. He urged the industry to invest in energy-saving equipment and technologies and also to explore non-conventional energy sources.