Known as power starved State, Jharkhand nears to be a power trader. If claims of Jharkhand State Electricity Board Chairman SN Verma are to be believed, the State is sitting pretty with power availability front. In an exclusive talk with The Pioneer, Verma though expressed displeasure over ‘coal-gate’ controversy that is hampering the ways of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) present in the State. Excerpts:.
The Board is trying to rope in private players to run power plants on PPP mode in Jharkhand. What are the upcoming plants just like PatratuIJ
We have taken three in our hands. One is Patratu, which is in its advanced stage now. We have all the clearances, pre bid has also taken place and some of the best parties have shown interest. It is 660x2 it means it is super critical. Second is Bhawnathpur (Palamau Division). Again there is no problem of land as it is of SAIl. We have taken the matter to their Board and by December we will have the land that we have identified as well. 1300 acre is required out of 4000 acres available. We have coal linkage with us and water as well. There are less hassles involved.
The last one is TVNl. There is one major problem that is ownership dispute with Bihar. The case is in the Supreme Court but we are on strong footings. Though, development is not happening. We have pleaded that TVNl should be allowed to do development and whosoever would get TVNl all the works done would be of theirs. It should be cleared in next hearing.
By what time you are expecting something to happen at BhawnathpurIJ
By December we would get the land. Thereafter we will apply with GOI for forest and environmental clearance. Then would come Terms of Reference which is easy in this case as land is already there, water is also there and there is not much settlement in the area either. After that 3- 3.5 years’ time is required to get any plant commissioned.
Private companies are also taking serious interest in the State. But some IPPs projects have got stuck badly in the State like Abhijeet and Essar at ChandwaIJ
Yes. It is because Jharkhand is blessed with coal and water. Ten IPPs are there, I think. land issue has been there but some like Aadhunik has started generating. Essar is also in line. Most of them are facing major hurdle due to coal block controversy. ‘Coal-gate’ is affecting the projects. Private companies become watchful due to controversy that slows down their progress. My feeling is that the GoI should see development first, especially in the field of power. It is the mother of all developments. Emphasis on this is a bit less which the GoI should have.
What is the situation of power reforms in the StateIJ
There is R-APDRP scheme of GoI which stresses on remote metering, online payment, remote monitoring, complaints redressal mechanism etc. It has been started here. One data centre has already been commissioned on pilot basis. We have identified 30 towns of Jharkhand which would be connected to the data centre. In 28 out of those the GPS meters have been connected. The Centre has given time till September 2014 to all the states but very ambitiously we want to complete it in March itself. We are ahead of many others.
We are also getting Rs 1,800 crore package sanctioned for underground cabling. We are in the process of tendering in the 30 towns by December. This would save the line from weather effects. 30 ATP machines have been installed and 30 more have been ordered. It has four payment modes- card, cash, cheque and draft for consumers. Four machines are there in Ranchi. I would like to put 100 machines in Jharkhand.
There are grievances over trifurcation and other reforms measuresIJ
Grievances would be there as you are going for a change in the existing system. But the change is for better. It has to be done. It has been done by all the states except Kerala. Provision for this is in the Electricity Act. We are taking those who have problem along. I have given 5000 people in writing that there would be no bearings on your job, promotion, retirement benefits. Rather if something happens it would be better in terms of salary, perks.
Is Jharkhand comfortable with power scenarioIJ
Our requirement is of 2,200 MW and we are getting that much. After brining fourth machine at Patratu we can even trade power. We started getting 120 MW from Aadhunik. With more IPPs coming, our situation would improve.
When would you be able to announce zero power cut at least for some townsIJ
For Ranchi you can say that we have made zero-cut. Power availability is there. We need 220 MW at peak load and we have that much. Some problem may be there with local faults. We are heading for zero cut in Giridih. Daltonganj, latehar are 24-hours. Dumka is still lacking. But it will take time in maintaining Mumbai-Delhi like system. That is why we are initiating major reforms in distribution system by changing conductors, transformers. Give me another six months.