KSEB may sign deal with Korea power co

Our Bureau

Thiruvananthapuram, June 27

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) will enter into an agreement with the Korea Electric Power Data Company in mid-July, for implementing the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (RAPDRP).

The RAPDRP is designed to provide value-added services to consumers and enhance the performance of power utilities in the State.

KSEB Chairman, Mr Rajiv Sadanandan, told newspersons here that the Korean company has been selected to implement the programme over a period of 18 months.

Commencement

Work on the programme would begin by July-end itself, after the implementing company submits a technical implementation plan to the KSEB.

The first phase of the programme is to be implemented at a cost of Rs 239.97 crore, Mr Sadanandan said. This phase envisages rolling out the Information Technology component in the distribution sector. The second phase aims at reducing the aggregate technical and commercial loss to the minimum level of 15 per cent.

On completion of the programme within the specified time limit, the entire loan allotted for the initial phase and 50 per cent for the second would be converted into a grant.

The other key milestone targets include enabling e-payment of electrical bills, online registration and status evaluation of complaints; submissions of applications for new service connection and tariff change; accelerated fault recovery and complaint rectification using GIS-based consumer indexing and asset mapping.

Second phase

The second phase of the programme would be implemented in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode. When complete, the programme would enable remote management of the distribution network of each town from a central control room. The initial phase of the programme would cover less than one-third of the KSEB consumers, Mr Sadanandan said.

The estimated cost of extending it to other areas has been pegged at Rs 33.24 core, which would be borne by the board itself.

On completion of the RAPDRP, routine chores such as metering; billing and collection pertaining to low-tension and high-tension consumers; and supply chain management and energy auditing, among others, would be fully automated.