Faced with heavy line losses and fat power purchase bills, state-run Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), the sole power distribution company in the hill state, is now running into heavy losses, a big worry for the state government.
After registering a net loss of Rs 379.62 crore last year, the accumulative total losses of the UPCL since its inception in 2001 have now reached Rs 1,200 crore. By including depreciation and provision for bad and doubtful debt, the losses are being pegged at Rs 1,650 crore, the company sources said. Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has recently told the UPCL top brass to bring down the losses considerably.
With the hydropower sector taking a beating in the hill state over the past two years and the demand for power growing sharply, UPCL is being forced to purchase power from outside the state at higher rates. The power utility, which bought power in 2001-02 for Rs 181.8 crore, purchased electricity from various companies for Rs 2,063 crore last year. UPCL had been buying power from Adani Power, Reliance and other companies during the past one decade.
“The balance sheet of the UPCL is a big worry for us. We are trying hard to improve in the next two years by at least lowering its transmission and distribution line losses,” a government official told Business Standard.
