LUCKNOW: It’s going to be a daunting task for the franchisee taking up the job of power distribution and revenue realisation in cities of Uttar Pradesh. Thanks to the existing collusion of power officials that the existing average revenue in all the distribution companies is almost half of the requisite. Simply put, for every two consumers, there was only one paying for the power consumed .In fact, in Azamgarh revenue realisation is as low as 66 paise as against the requisite Rs 2.94 thus meaning that one out of four consumers were paying for electricity. Likewise in Moradabad, one out of three consumers paid for their electricity bills as the district recorded a revenue realisation at the rate of Rs 1.18 per unit.
Moreover, revenue in districts like Saharanpur and Jhansi dipped in 2007-08 as compared to 2006-07 . While in Saharanpur the per unit realisation dipped by six paise, in Jhansi the plunge was 23 paise.
According to the revenue data compiled by the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) at the end of December 2008, average revenue realisation rate (per unit) was pegged at Rs 1.67, which was almost half of the requisite. What is even more shocking is the fact that none of the distribution companies – Meerut discom, Lucknow discom, Agra discom and Varanasi discom – could achieve revenue at the rate of more than Rs 2.The lowest was Varanasi discom which realised the revenue at the rate of Rs 1.38 per unit. It was followed by Agra discom which realised revenue at the rate of Rs 1.39 per unit.
Meerut discom performed the best realising revenue at the rate of Rs 1.97 per unit. But this was because of Noida where revenue realisation was more than Rs 3.80 per unit, owing to its industrial status where per unit cost goes more than Rs 4 per unit during peak hours.
The Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (Lesa) was pipped at second position but that too could realise revenue at the rate of Rs 2.19 per unit.This means that the franchisee will have to rip through the UPPCL officialpower thieves nexus to realise their target. And, that’s what the state government seems to achieve, given the pressure created by the employee demanding revised wages as per the 6th pay commission.
A senior UPPCL official while interpreting the data said, indeed some of the districts were a worrying factor . ” It is this very thing which is being addressed through the introduction of the franchisee system,” he added. But will proposal see the light of the day? It’s a wait and watch situation.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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