Unbundling of SEBs postponed

The government has decided to extend the deadline for unbundling of state electricity boards by six months beyond June 9, 2005.

The decision was taken today, after a meeting between Power Minister PM Sayeed and Left leaders AB Bardhan and E Balanandan.

The minister met the leaders and some trade union members in a bid to avert a nationwide strike called by the electricity unions on May 31, said an official press release.

On the review process for the Electricity Act, 2003, the Centre had said suitable steps would be taken to address concerns regarding elimination of cross-subsidies, even though in its own opinion, the issue had been adequately addressed in the Electricity Policy.

The government would also take care of the concerns regarding the misconceptions about the creation of an urban-rural divide in the Act, the release said.

After today's discussion, it was decided that the date for unbundling of the state electricity boards will be extended, while the government would continue the process of review of provisions related to reorganisation and restructuring of state electricity boards in the Electricity Act, 2003, based on the status and impact of its implementation, it added.

Mumbai, kolkata top in distribution

---

Kolkata and Mumbai (suburbs) had the best power distribution systems in India in February 2005, according to a ranking by distribution companies, based on the number of trippings per feeder.

As per the period of feeder outages, Trichy and Jabalpur were the top two discoms. The ranking was done by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

As per the January ranking, Greater Mumbai and Kolkata had topped the list. In a rating of discoms in the country, as per the number of trippings per feeder, the CEA has placed Surat and Ahmedabad next on the list.

The discoms have been rated by the CEA under its monthly evaluation of the power distribution system. The rating is based on the number of trippings and outage duration of 11 Kv feeders. At present only towns with a population exceeding 800,000 are being evaluated.

Gradually all towns in the country will be rated by the CEA which proposes to work out the reliability evaluation indices in line with international practice, said a CEA release.

A number of discoms and state electricity boards did not furnish the information required for rating. These include Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

In Delhi, BSES Yamuna and Rajdhani did not submit the data, while in Mumbai, BEST which supplies to Mumbai City and MSEB which supplies to Thane, Mulund, Bhandup, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik and Aurangabad did not submit the data.