UP powermen demand scrapping of Torrent Power franchisee in Agra

Allege Rs 440 crore loss to UP Power Corp

Uttar Pradesh powermen have alleged that the state power utility had incurred losses of almost Rs 440 crore since April 2010 following the handing over of electricity distribution franchisee in Agra city to Torrent Power.

After a bidding process, Torrent was finally handed over the franchisee by UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) on April 1, 2010.

According to powermen, the private company was facilitated additional benefit to the tune of Rs 145 crore, while UPPCL had incurred additional losses of Rs 295 crore by not adhering to the agreement clauses.

Powermen under the banner of Power Employees Joint Action Committee (JAC) held a meeting here to discuss the issue and demanded the franchisee be scrapped.

JAC convenor Shailendra Dubey said the burden of losses totalling Rs 440 crore had been passed on to the consumers. He claimed that since the transfer on April 1, UPPCL had sold 2,157 million units (MU) to Torrent at the rate of Rs 1.80/unit, while the cost to power utility itself amounted to Rs 3.17/unit.

“This resulted in loss of Rs 1.37/unit to UPPCL, which totals Rs 295 crore,” he added. He said, besides, according to agreement, UPPCL were to sell 158.51 MU to Torrent per month at the rate of Rs 1.80/unit. Additional units, however, were to be sold after adding line losses and trading margins, which comes to Rs 5.72/unit.

“This way, in one year, Torrent was to be sold 1902 MU, while it was supplied 2157 MU, which is 255 MU more. At the rate of Rs 5.72/unit, the additional tariff comes to about Rs 145 crore,” Dubey claimed.

He said by not collecting the additional charges, Torrent was provided additional monetary benefit.

“On the other hand, the private company had to recover Rs 2,000 crore worth of arrears on behalf of UPPCL, which is yet to materialise,” he added.

Powermen have demanded the franchisee be scrapped and an audit be conducted to ascertain loopholes and punish the guilty.