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In an effort to curb the incessant
loss of power owing to
theft and T&D losses, the
ministry of power has directed
the states to quicken the pace
of the restructured accelerated
power development and reforms
programme. The progress of RAPDRP
has not been satisfactory
even though the Centre has
made timely disbursement of
funds to the states.
At a recent meeting called by
the ministry, Union Power Secretary
H.S. Brahma said that
state power utilities needed to
accelerate the appointment of IT
consultants from the empanelled
list through the bid
process. The IT consultant will
assist the utilities in preparing
DPR for projects meant to establish
baseline data and IT applications
for energy accounting,
auditing and IT-based consumer
service centres, and supervising
their execution. The states were
asked to ensure timely submission
of DPR to the nodal agency
for scrutiny and approval.
Brahma also directed the
nodal agencies to expedite the
empanelment of third-party
independent evaluating agencies.
Besides, the agencies
were asked to cover baseline
AT&C loss of the project area
under R-APDRP.
Till December 2009, a total of
1,125 projects costing around
Rs 4,174 crore under R-APDRP
have been approved for 18
states. These are: Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat,
Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu,
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Himachal
Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim and
West Bengal.
A four-way agreement
between the ministry of power,
Power Finance Corporation,
state governments and state
utilities under R-APDRP in
11th Plan has been finalised.
Andhra Pradesh, Haryana,
Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and
Uttarakhand have already
signed the agreement. PFC has
disbursed loans of Rs 699 crore
to the above seven states as
well as to Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh and West Bengal.
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