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

State Reports (Vol.-III)
Study on `Impact of Restructuring of SEBs’
losses. UPERC has been consistently re-stating the level of losses for the unmetered
consumption.
Rural Electrification
As per the data available with the Ministry of Power, 42 per cent of the villages of the
State are yet to be electrified. Further, the access to electricity by rural households is at a
dismal 19.84 per cent (2001 Census) as against the national average of more than 40 per
cent. The State sector has, however, taken initiatives recently to improve rural
distribution infrastructure under the RGGVY.
Losses
Transmission losses are being maintained between 5 to 6 per cent, which are comparable
to those of TRANSCOs in other States. The distribution losses still remains a significant
area of concern and account for loss of more than 30 per cent of the power available for
sale at the distribution interface level. The AT&C loss level, standing at more than 50 per
cent during early reform years, has come down to about 40 per cent as per Utility data.
This aspect would indicate a considerably good performance on the part of the
distribution sector if the same is also ratified by the SERC.
Financial Position
The subsidy support from the State Government has been maintained at below Rs 1,000
crore level due to its financial constraints, while the need for subsidy has been mounting
in the wake of increased consumption from the subsidised categories. It may be noticed
that the outstanding receivables and bad debt situation has started to rise again in the
sector despite massive write-offs undertaken during the restructuring process. An
analysis of the arrears position indicates that the Government departments also account
for a considerable part of these receivables. The cash gap in the system is leading to
accumulation of losses in the books of the utilities. The losses for 2003-04 stood at about
Rs 1,700 crore as against Rs 132 crore during 2000-01, indicating a worsening situation
of the utilities.
Independence of Operations
Most of the newly created entities are still being headed by a common Chairman. This
has considerably negated the benefits of restructuring to the individual companies and
the situation is no better than that of the erstwhile UPSEB. The State Government should
ensure that these corporations have independent functioning and follow the principle of
7.4