Deadline set for pvt power cos

Govt cracks down on slow progress in rural electrification projects

Concerned over the slow progress of rural electrification in the state under the Accelerated Rural Electrification Programme (AREP), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has fixed June 30 as the deadline for the completion of these projects by private sector companies.

Even major players in the power industry, like Reliance Energy and IVRCL, have failed to achieve the electrification target. This has forced the state power corporation to issue an ultimatum last week, warning these companies that the contracts would be awrded to other players if they fail to complete the electrification before the deadline.

According to sources in the corporation office, Reliance Energy Ltd, which had successfully bagged the Rs 84.35 crore contract to electrify more than 600 villages of four districts of Agra division including Agra, Aligarh, Hathras and Mathura, has so far been unable to achieve the desired rate of output.

At a recent meeting in Lucknow, sources said, the chief minister had sharply reprimanded all private players working towards the electrification of the state villages and demanded that at least 75-80 per cent of the electrification work should be completed by June 30 or the contracts would be revoked.

Officials at the Agra power discom, DVVNL, said so far, Reliance Energy had only been able to complete about 20 per cent of the work allotted to it. In the Agra zone, its performance was better than only Vijay Electricals, a Hyderabad-based firm.

The best performer in the Agra zone was another Hyderabad-based firm, IVRCL Infrastructure and Projects Ltd.

Of the five companies currently working in the Agra zone, only IVRCL is expected to achieve the target before the deadline.

The chief minister has lauded IVRCL's performance.