Tribune Special
Delhi discoms prosper at northern states cost
Manish Sirhindi
Tribune News Service

Panipat, June 3
The power allocation formula of the Centre is, to put it politely, is discriminatory. It is heavily loaded in favour of Delhi, or more so, in favour of the distribution companies (discoms) of the National Capital. The formula brings windfall for the Delhi discoms, while it penalises power-producing northern states.

Private firms in Delhi earned Rs 184 crore in April by surrendering 4,096 lakh units
Haryana overdrew 1,807 lakh units and paid Rs 140 crore
Punjab overdrew 20,417 lakh units and was billed Rs 236 crore

The Delhi companies have been allocated so much of power from the Central pool that they are not able to consume it. These companies earn crores just by surrendering the additional power allocated to them.

On the other hand, the northern states, which are starved of power, though they are major contributors to the food bowl of the country, have to pay huge penalties as unscheduled interchange (UI) charges when they overdraw electricity to meet their demands.

The repeated pleas of the northern states for enhancement of their power allocation have remained unheard. Last month, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister PK Dhumal urged the Centre to enhance his states allocation. Punjab minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon had demanded additional 1,000 MW at the All-India Power Ministers Conference held in Delhi on April 28. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda too had urged the union government to allocate 400 MW of additional power from the unallocated pool. However, the state was given only 100 MW.

In April, the Delhi discoms were allocated 3,671 MW per day, which was far more than the capitals requirement. On the contrary, the allocation of Haryana and Punjab was 1,816 MW and 2,201 MW, respectively, despite their high demand.

The records with the Northern Regional Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC) show that the private firms in Delhi earned Rs 184 crore in April by surrendering 4,096 lakh units. On the other hand, Punjab had to overdraw 20,417 lakh units and was billed Rs 236 crore. Haryana overdrew 1,807 lakh units and paid Rs 140 crore. Uttar Pradesh overdrew 31,207 lakh units in April and paid Rs 368 crore. Even Rajashthan, Chandigarh and the Railways overdrew power from the grid and ended up paying excessive charges.

As per a report of the Central Electricity Authority, out of a total installed capacity of 14,411 MW in the northern region, firm allocation for Delhi in April was 2,822 MW. Haryana got 1,083 MW, Punjab 1,832 MW and Himachal Pradesh 967 MW of power. Out of 4,049 MW of non-firm allocation (which is at the discretion of the Union Power Ministry), Delhi got 849 MW, Haryana 733 MW, Punjab 369 MW and unlike Delhi, Himachal was not given any share from the non-firm quota, as it was already surrendering power to the grid.

According to the recently released data by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), during 2009-2010, the Delhi discoms drew 21,70,041 MUs from the central grid, which was much less than the allocated 1,68,43,701 MUs quota.

The electricity quota for the national capital from the central grid had consistently been increased over the past couple of years on various grounds, including the Commonwealth Games.

The recent hike in the UI charges by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has also added to the northern states burden. After the revision, the states have to pay Rs 17.46 a unit as against earlier Rs 7.52 per unit.

Speaking to The Tribune, chairman of the All-India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) Padamjit Singh said Punjab and Haryana had been repeatedly asking for additional electricity, particularly during the paddy season, but nothing seemed to have worked out for these states. Shaliender Dubey, general secretary of AIPEF, said this discrepancy in power allocation should be removed immediately.

MD of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Arun Kumar, who is also a member of the Haryana Power Purchase Centre, refused to comment on the issue.