NIPEF opposes bailout package

Yogindra Mohan
Patiala

The Northern India Power Engineers Federation (NIPEF) has opposed the conditional financial bailout package for debt restructuring of power utilities saying the conditions attached were unacceptable.

The NIPEF held its federal council meeting here on Sunday and discussed the pitfalls of financial restructuring plan of the Union government for power utilities. The bailout package as contained in the scheme comes with many riders. The riders are the participation of private sector in power distribution, enactment of model draft legislation by the States which would include franchising of distribution.

A spokesman of the NIPEF said the NIPEF is of the firm view that franchisee is not the only way to reduce transmission and distribution losses and the same can be done departmentally with given administrative support. Chairman of the AIPEF Padamjit Singh said that line losses have been reduced successfully in Punjab, Eastern Andhra, Karnatka and Himachal Pardesh through departmental schemes of loss reduction.

The federal executive of the NIPEF decided to make a presentation before Haryana power utilities management on how to reduce transmission losses as has been done in Patiala and subsequently followed in other parts of Punjab. The NIPEF criticised the proposed feeder wise franchisee.

He said the NIPEF is of the firm opinion that transmission losses can be brought down in Haryana if the power utility replicate Patiala model. Vice President of PSEB Engineers Association Bhupinder Singh said that that AT&C losses in Patiala were in range of 23 to 24 per cent and same has been brought down to 17 per cent in two years. As on date these losses are around 14 per cent. The in-house expenditure was minimum as compared to outsourcing.