Material procurement for capex programme by Dec

The procurement of material for implementation of the capital expenditure (Capex) programme announced by the Orissa government for the four electricity distribution companies operating in the state is set to be completed by the first week of December.

The material procurement process has already begun from the last week of September this year.

Similarly, execution of turnkey project has commenced and it is expected to be completed by February 2012.

The state Chief Secretary B K Patnaik recently reviewed the status of the Capex porgramme.

In November last year, the state government had announced a Capex of Rs 2,400 crore for the four distribution utilities in the state- Central Electricity Supply Utility of Orissa Ltd (Cesu), North-eastern Electricity Supply Company of Orissa (Nesco), Southern Electricity Supply Company of Orissa (Southco) and Western Electricity Supply Company of Orissa (Wesco).

The state government has already released Rs 205 crore in 2010-11 and made a budget provision of Rs 325 crore, including the 13th Finance Commission's grant of Rs 125 crore for 2011-12.

The Rs 2,400-crore expenditure is set to be incurred during 2010-11 to 2013-14 and it is aimed at bring down the AT&C (aggregate technical and commercial) loss by 12-13 per cent in the said period. One per cent reduction of AT&C loss will contribute Rs 60 crore per annum.

Out of the total expenditure of Rs 2,400 crore, the state government will provide Rs 1,200 crore while the four discoms will mobilize the remaining Rs 1,200 crore.

Out of the Rs 1,200 crore to be provided by the state government, Rs 500 crore would come from the 13th Finance Commission which is to be passed on to the discoms with 0 per cent interest.

A technical committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of of the Engineer-in-Chief (electricity) to examine the recommend the required equipment specifications and place the same before the monitoring committee for their adoption.

The monitoring committee has so far held 13 meetings and approved technical specification of 19 major items including commercial terms of procurement and turnkey contract.

The detailed project reports prepared by Cesu (Rs 406.49 crore), Nesco (Rs 189 crore), Wesco (Rs 185.5 crore) and Southco (Rs 190.25 crore) have already been approved by the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC).