AP makes Rs 5,000cr revamp plan for power distribution

Nearly Rs 1,290 cr annual benefit for Andhra by migration to high-voltage distribution system

To address the twin issues of power pilferage and distribution losses, the Andhra Pradesh government is planning a Rs 5,000 crore total revamp of its power distribution network, which will see it migrate from a low-voltage distribution system to a high-voltage distribution system.

The annual benefit to the state is expected to be to the tune of Rs 1,290 crore, with a total payback time of less than five years.

The state government is aiming to tap funds from the Centre's Accelerated Power Development Programme (APDP) to implement the project.

The Life Insurance Corporation of India has already come forward to provide loan assistance to the project, according to D K Panwar, principal secretary, Energy Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

The state government plans to replace the current low-voltage power distribution network in rural areas by introducing high voltage distribution system (HVDS), particularly for the agriculture sector.

Addressing a media conference on Thursday, Panwar said that the Andhra Pradesh Transmission Corporation (APTransco) would come out with a detailed project report in a fortnight.

As soon as the report is ready the state government would write to the Centre requesting funds from the APDP project. The Centre has to provide certain relaxations to sanction funds under this pre-dominantly urban centric programme, Panwar pointed out.

Apart from eliminating technical losses and pilferage the HVDS system also enables metering at the small distribution transformer end, there by facilitating accurate measurement of energy consumption by agriculture pump-sets, Panwar explained.

He refuted the arguments that the benefits of the project do not match the project cost.

Replying to a question on the proposed renegotiation on PPAs of independent power producers (IPPs), he said that the government is busy contemplating a mechanism for the above purpose based on the experiences of the state of Gujarat, which has already renegotiated the PPAs of such projects.

"Whether we will appoint a committee of senior retired officers from the power sector for the negotiations or constitute an experts committee to chart out the issues before going in to the actual process of negotiations, would be decided in a week," he said.

Replying to another question, Panwar said there was no hurry on anyone's part in transferring the trading activity to the state's distribution companies.

"APTransco is going as per its earlier plans of transferring the trading activity, completing the process by July end. If it requires some more time to look into the issues involved with the transfer, the government has no problem. The Centre has anyway extended the deadline for one whole year," he informed.

According to the latest clarification, only GVK, Spectrum and the Lanco power projects would be included in the renegotiation of PPAs. Panwar said that BSES Andhra Power has already undergone the renegotiation process.