DVC power sale in Delhi irks state
SUDHIR KUMAR MISHRA

Ranchi, June 1: The state government is set to corner the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for supplying surplus power to New Delhi, a practice it has termed contradictory to prescribed norms.

Deputy chief minister Sudesh Mahto is expected to raise the matter with Arjun Munda, who also heads the energy department, once he returns from the US.

According to part III of the DVC Act, “the corporation shall carry out all or any of its functions and exercise all or any of its powers within the Damodar valley”, which is spread across several districts of Jharkhand and Bengal. It adds that the Centre in consultation with the regional governments concerned can direct the company to carry out its operations in other areas too.

However, on August 24, 2006, the DVC entered into a power purchase agreement with Delhi Transco Limited for supplying 2,500MW electricity to Delhi. Incidentally, the DVC units based in Jharkhand and Bengal are generating the power supplied to Delhi.

Mahto maintained that he was not aware whether the Jharkhand government’s consent was taken when the DVC struck the deal with Delhi Transco Limited. “But if the Delhi Transco Limited is earning huge amounts at the expense of Jharkhand and Bengal, it is highly objectionable,” he said.

He opined that if this was the case, the Jharkhand and Bengal governments might consider adopting joint strategies on the matter.

The All India Power Engineers Federation has also taken strong exception to and demanded corrective measures from the central PSU. Last week, the federation shot off letters to the Union cabinet secretary and power secretary, the Central Electricity Authority and the DVC chairman. Sources said it was also considering approaching the judiciary to dispute the matter.

“This move was apparently aimed at obliging the Ambanis and Tatas, who have been awarded contracts to supply electricity to Delhi. It is ridiculous that while Jharkhand and Bengal continue to remain in darkness, Delhi is minting money by selling out surplus power produced in Jharkhand and Bengal,” said federation chairman Padmajit Singh.

“Last year”, Singh added, “Delhi Transco Limited earned over Rs 764 crore by selling surplus power produced by the DVC. The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission had also strongly objected to this.”

“It wouldn’t be wise for me to comment at the moment. I have to talk to the chief minister first, but let me clarify that any injustice to Jharkhand will not be tolerated,” Mahto added.

At present, the DVC has an installed production capacity of 1,410MVA (mega volt ampere) in all its functional units in Jharkhand, while it supplies around 498MVA to the state everyday. However, the Union cabinet decrees that 50 per cent of the electricity produced by a central PSU has to be handed to the state where its plants are based in.

The DVC management has recently been in the eye of a storm in Jharkhand for transferring its thermal power plant units in Koderma to Raghunathpur, Bengal, and neglecting the commissioning of units VII and VIII of the Chandrapura Thermal Power Station (CTPS).

The state legislators have often raised a furore in the Assembly over the DVC’s approach to community development schemes and providing irrigation facilities and jobs to land donors, et al.

Attempts to commission unit VIII of CTPS received a setback last week, when the mandatory 14-day trial run was discontinued following a leak in the boiler tube.

The DVC management had recently assured Supreme Court through an affidavit that the unit would be commissioned by the first week of this month.

Unit VIII was originally slated for commissioning in March 2007 while unit VII in January 2007. But the units, which have an installed capacity of 250MW each, have hit a deadlock several times.