Kerala opposes Centre's move to privatise electricity board

The Congress-led UDF government in Kerala has opposed the Centre's suggestion to privatise the power distribution system under the Financial Power Restructuring Package.

Replying to an adjournment notice by AK Balan (CPI-M) in the Assembly on the reported move to privatise Kerala State Electricity Board, power minister Aryadan Muhammed said Kerala wanted to retain the Board in the public sector itself. Neither the public private participation route nor the franchise model for power distribution network was acceptable to the state, Muhammed said.

Instead of privatising the Board, the government plans to improve the efficiency and quality of its functioning, he said. Transmission loss, which stood as high as 31 per cent in 2001, has come down to 17 per cent. The government was confident it would be able to bring it down further, he said.

However, the Board's financial situation was not so good. It was taking loans even to purchase power, he said, adding, “the board incurs a loss of Rs 200 crore a month.” The government could not reject the financial assistance of the Centre but would not agree to the proposal for privatisation of the Board, he said. The Kerala government would have no hesitation in informing the Centre that it did not want the package if it insisted on privatisation of the Board, he added.