APTransco to launch Rs 3,000 cr high voltage distribution system

Move aimed at containing pilferage & technical losses

In an effort to contain pilferage and technical losses, APTransco has decided to replace the existing power distribution network with a high voltage distribution system (HVDS) at a cost of over Rs 3,000 crore.

To be implemented over a three-year duration, with an expenditure of Rs 1,000 crore each year, the HVDS project will involve upgradation of the existing low voltage distribution to high voltage lines, Rachel Chatterjee, chairperson and managing director of APTransco, said in a press release issued here today.

"The scheme was initially implemented in the temple town of Tirupathi very recently and has proved to be a tremendous success and a great boon to the consumers in that area," the press release observed.

The power utility stated that the capital investment for the current financial year is expected to go up by about Rs 165 crore to touch around Rs 1,600 crore from the proposed Rs 1,435 crore. To implement the HVDS scheme, the power utilities are contemplating the investment of a massive sum of Rs 2,130 crore during the next financial year.

Reviewing the performance of the power utilities in 2004-05, the APTransco chairperson and managing director said that the reduction of transmission and distribution losses have resulted in an increase in metered sales, which rose from 44 per cent in 2003 to 46 per cent in the year 2004.

According to Chatterjee, the metered sales during the current financial year are expected to reach 50 per cent. The HT industrial sales, which was only about 3,903 million units in 2000-01 has increased significantly to 6,120 million units in 2003-04. The same is expected to touch 7,482 million units during the current financial year and over 9,000 million units in the next fiscal.

The energy purchases are expected to touch 50,790 million units over the next financial year from 46,435 million units in 2004-05. Already an increase of 2,644 million units has been registered during the current financial year as compared to the previous fiscal, according to a press release.