UP power employees oppose 'privatisation'

Power Corp says it favours PPP model

Uttar Pradesh Power Employees Joint Action Committee (JAC) today opposed the decision to allegedly privatise the electricity distribution in four major cities of the state.

The cities are Meerut, Ghaziabad, Kanpur and Varanasi.

However, the state power utility UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) denied there was any privatisation move afoot saying the plan was to adopt the public private partnership (PPP) model in distribution.

Nonetheless, the employees have decided to hold state-wide protests on April 15 against the alleged move.

Questioning the intension of the state, JAC convenor and All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) secretary general Shailendra Dubey claimed the government was trying to privatise high revenue areas. “This is a policy of privatising the profits and nationalising the losses,” he told Business Standard.

The state government through UPPCL has resolved to undertake the renovation, upgradation, modernisation, strengthening, operation and maintenance of the distribution system and sub-transmission system of the four cities under PPP.

Through newspaper advertisement, the Corporation has sought ‘request for proposal’ for appointment of technical consultant to prepare a feasibility report for the project.

Quoting UPPCL figures, Dubey said revenue realisation during 2012-13 in the two zones of Ghaziabad city stood at Rs 4.54/unit and Rs 4.38/unit, Kanpur Rs 3.30/unit, Meerut Rs 3.13/unit and the two zones of Varanasi at Rs 2.66/unit and Rs 2.45/unit.

These realisations were much better than the average realisation in UP at Rs 2.35/unit, he added. In the light of these figures, there is clear indication of deliberately causing loss to the exchequer for vested interests, Dubey said.

The power distribution is already in private hands in Agra, which is handled by Torrent Power.

Meanwhile, UPPCL managing director A P Mishra maintained that there was no plan for any privatisation.