Report of Indian Institute of Public Administration ... - Ministry of Power

Karnataka
agricultural use, and a large part of the commercial losses was categorised as T&D
losses - a euphemism for theft 4 !
The following table gives the extent of subsidy provided by the Government of
Karnataka to the power utilities in the recent years:
Table: Extent of Government Subsidy to the Utilities (Rs crore)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
-01 -02 -03 -04 -05 -06(BE) -07(BE)
1,246.42 1,897 1,636.50 1,341.95 1,569 1,750 2,373
The extent of subsidy involved can be gauged from the fact that during the current
year (2006-07), the subsidy amount of Rs 2,373 crore, provided in the State Budget
comes to about seven per cent of the Revenue Expenditure for the year, and is in
excess of the capital budget deficit for the year by Rs 866 crore. An amount of Rs
1,800 crore out of the current year’s subsidy amount is intended towards consumption
by agricultural pumpsets, while Rs 227 crore will go to regularise the unauthorised use
of power for irrigation pumpsets and to incentivise the metering of the pumpsets. The
following Table gives the trend of subsidy booked, subsidy received, and percentage
of subsidy booked to revenue in respect of utilities in Karnataka:
Table: Details of Subsidy Booked and Received: Utilities
2002-03 2003-04
(Rs crore)
2004-05
DISCOM Subsidy Subsidy
% of
Subsidy Subsidy Subsidy
% of
Subsidy Subsidy Subsidy
% of
Subsidy
booked received booked to booked received booked to booked received booked to
Revenue
revenue
revenue
BESCOM 316 350 13.64 189 86 5.94 0 186 0
GESCOM 358 343 71.82 422 391 64.42 470 395 68.56
HESCOM 496 445 73.82 681 521 82.97 828 581 93.91
MESCOM 163 102 16.25 237 174 18.87 271 238 19.73
Total 1,333 1,240 43.8 1,529 1,172 43.05 1,569 1,400 45.45
TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION LOSSES
It may be of interest to trace the record of T&D losses in Karnataka during the past,
since this was one of the major factors responsible for the poor performance of the
Board, and continues to be an unsustainable burden for the restructured utilities. As
mentioned by Shri S.L. Rao, former Chairman, Central Electricity Regulatory
4 From the famous statement of Sh.Tata Rao, former Chairman, of Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board.
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