Author: Jyotsna Bhatnagar
Publication: Financial Express
Date: May 23, 2005
Gujarat has managed 100% rural electrification
and 6.4% growth in total power availability
Experience says the logic in planning,
commensurate policymaking and committed implementation has typically tended
to fail in our power sector. Are other states close to doing a Maharashtra?
Do inadequate resources and myopic vision plague most? FE takes a look.
Maharashtra may be on the brink
of a black out, but in neighbouring Gujarat, lights twinkle even in remote
villages, thanks to Jyoti Gram Yojana. Perhaps the only state in the country
with such a revolutionary scheme, Gujarat today has achieved almost 100%
electrification of its villages.
Launched in October 2004 with the
aim of providing round-the-clock power to villages across the state, the
scheme has covered 7,800 villages so far, with tremendous socio-economic
impact. Says a senior bureaucrat of the state energy department, "As three-phase
power is available for 24 hours, villagers have even started using more
electric appliances like mixer-grinders, TVs, VCR, and refrigerators, improving
their lives qualitatively." The scheme has a state budgetary provision
of Rs 100 crore for the current fiscal.
The crowning glory for Gujarat's
power performance, is the Icra-Crisil power sector rating for 2005, ranking
it the second best performer after Andhra Pradesh. To give the state its
due, it has not only managed to retain its position, but has endeavoured
to improve its previous year's score. The Icra-Crisil report considers
state government parameters, performance of electricity regulatory commissions,
generation, financial risk and commercial viability, while arriving at
the scores.
Interestingly, Gujarat is by no
means self-sufficient in power production. The state has an installed generating
capacity of 8,713 mw. According to the latest Centre for Monitoring the
Indian Economy (CMIE) monthly review of Gujarat, during March 2005, the
total power availability in Gujarat stood at 5,273 kwH. While the total
generation in the state accounted for 80.16%, receipts from the central
sector accounted for 19.84%.
Out of the state's generation of
4,227 million kwH, power sourced from the state-owned Gujarat Electricity
Board (GEB) held a share of 50.93% or 2,153 million kwH, while the private
sector contributed 49%.
Interestingly, during fiscal 2004-05,
the total availability of power in Gujarat grew by 6.4%, quite remarkable
compared to the fall of 0.7% in the preceding year. This can partly be
attributed to GEB, which upped its power generation by 7.17%, while private
sector generation grew by 19.15%.
Officials attribute the impressive
performance largely to the aggressive power sector reforms undertaken by
the state government. In line with the recommendations of the Asian Development
Bank, the state has moved towards the corporatisation of GEB and has restructured
the state electricity board into seven companies by unbundling generation,
transmission and distribution.
That's not all. The state plans
to attain total self-sufficiency in the sector. Gujarat Power Corporation
Limited, the nodal agency for augmenting generating capacity in the state
through private and joint sector participation, has catalysed implementation
on some projects in the near future. These include a 655 mw fuel-based
power project at Paguthan through the Gujarat Paguthan Energy Corporation
and a 250 mw pithead coal-based power project at Mangrol in Surat by Gujarat
Industries Power Corporation.
Additionally, projects under implementation
are two 250-mw pithead lignite-based projects, one at Akrimota in Kutch
by GMDC. The other is in Bhavnagar by Nirma Chemical Works Limited, the
private strategic partner. The third is a 615 mw dual fuel-based project
in Amreli by Kribhco. An MoU has also been inked with NTPC for setting
up a 1,000 mw mega power project at Pipavav.
Major private players currently
active in the state are China Light and Power, the Torrent-owned Ahmedabad
Electricity Company, Surat Electricity Company, and Essar which has recently
commissioned another 100-mw plant at Hazira in addition to its existing
250 mw plant.
Summing it up, a senior state bureaucrat
said, "Like in all other areas, in power too we are stealing a march over
other states. The unfortunate power crisis which Maharashtra has been plunged
into is largely on account of bad planning and policies. Its unlikely that
such a thing would ever happen in Gujarat."
