Gridco, OPTCL post heavy losses in 2010-11

Two major public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the power sector- Grid Corporation of Orissa Ltd (Gridco) and Orissa Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (OPTCL) have posted heavy losses in 2010-11.

This is despite the fact that the government has parked more than 80 per cent of its total investments of Rs 10,224.98 crore during 2005-06 to 2010-11 in the power sector.

Latest data released by the Comptroller & Auditor General of India-CAG (commercial) for the year ended March 31, 2011 reveals that Gridco posted loss of Rs 146.53 crore in 2010-11 whereas OPTCL suffered loss of Rs 71.37 crore.

CAG has attributed the losses to deficiencies in financial management, planning, implementation of projects as well as running of their operations and monitoring.

Besides Gridco and OPTCL, IDCOL Kalinga Iron Works and Orissa Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) also recorded loss of Rs 39.61 crore and Rs 28.68 crore respectively. In toto, six out of 35 operational PSUs in the state clocked a combined loss of Rs 287.42 crore in 2010-11.

The working state PSUs have incurred losses to the tune of Rs 2,409.93 crore between 2008-09 and 2010-11 and made infructuous investment of Rs 264.50 crore which were controllable with better management.

As many as 24 PSUs together posted profit of Rs 1,400.25 crore in 2010-11. The major contributors to profit were Orissa Mining Corporation (Rs 1,089.32 crore), Orissa Power Generation Corporation (Rs 166.44 crore), Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (Rs 46.93 crore) and Orissa State Beverages Corporation Ltd (Rs 40.02 crore).

The investment on 65 PSUs (as on March 31, 2011) was Rs 10,224.98 crore. The major share of PSU investment went to the power sector which accounted for 80.60 per cent of the total investment by the end of 2010-11. The next big share was grabbed by finance sector at 12.02 per cent followed by manufacturing at 2.88 per cent. The working PSUs registered turnover of Rs 9,320.78 crore for 2010-11 which was equal to five per cent of the state's gross domestic product (GDP) of Rs 1.86 lakh crore, indicating an important role played by the PSUs in the economy.