UP power body gears up to beat the election with with new tie-ups
Deepa Jainani
Posted online: Mar 11, 2009 at 2122 hrs
LucknowThe first rustle of the great Indian searing summer is in. And so is the knock of the once-every-five-year extravaganza called general elections. To ‘manage’ the twin assault and see to it that the scorching heat does not raise hackles against the ruling establishment, the power-starved Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) is trying to tie up agreements with other power utilities well in advance.
So heavy is the tussle between the power starved states of the northern grid to book power from power-rich states, that price is no longer an issue and states are ready to cough up rates as high as Rs 8 and even more for every unit of power purchased.
As of now, UPPCL has made arrangements to buy additional power for the month of April only, at an estimated cost of over Rs 260 crore, while plans are being firmed to buy power for May and June, the peak summer months when demand will touch an unprecedented 11,000-mw mark. “The restricted demand in April is likely to be 185 million units a day as against the availability of 155 million units, which will mean an inevitable power cut of 30 million units per day. This translates to a deficit of around 1,500-2,000 mw of power, which has to be purchased from outside,” said a Power Corporation official.
To make up for this deficit, the Power Corporation has struck an agreement to buy 250 mw of power from the Himachal Pradesh government for the first fortnight of April at the rate of 7.50 per unit and 400 mw for the next fortnight, also at Rs 7.50 per unit, which is expected to set the Corporation back by Rs 180 crore.
Negotiations are also on with the Chattisgarh government, the North Delhi Power Company (NDPL) and Reliance Power for the purchase of 90-mw electricity from each utility at the rate of Rs 4.50 per unit for the month of April. This would entail an additional cost of Rs 85 crore. Says Shailendra Dubey, secretary general of the All India Power Engineers Federation, “Whatever electricity is required to be purchased and the price should be accounted for by the state government. The UPPCL should not be burdened with this additional payment, as that would mean a reflection in the annual revenue requirement (ARR) that would be presented to the electricity regulatory commission and would eventually be passed on to the consumer.”
However, Power Corporation officials denied that the move to buy additional power was linked to the elections in any way. “This is a yearly ritual,” said a senior official. “Every year during summer months we have to plan in advance and buy power from outside to meet our demands,” he said adding that the Corporation will request the state government to give more grants so that adequate power can be arranged from other states.