Power Output Up 10% In Apr-May

The country's infrastructure sectors have turned in a mixed performance in the first two months of fiscal 1998-99 with indications of the scenario worsening in subsequent months.

Electricity generation and telecom capacity registered healthy year-on-year increases in April and May, while coal production and the transport sector, measured by cargo handled at major ports and goods traffic on railways, reported negative performances.

For April-May 1998, electricity generation (see table alongside) grew 10 per cent year-on-year basis led primarily by a substantial increase in hydel power output. Hydel generation, accounting for 17-18 per cent of total electricity produced in the country, was pegged at over 13,400 million kilowatt-hour (Kwh) in April-May, a 36 per cent increase.

Thermal generation also registered a positive increase (5.6 per cent) in April-May 1998. The sharp rise in hydel power generation is part of a continuing trend since January this year. January recorded a growth of 23.1 per cent, February 24.2 per cent, March 35.5 per cent, April 48.3 per cent and May 23.6 per cent.

The growth in hydel-based electricity generation is stated to be on account of a drive by most electricity boards to increase generation from existing plants and a negative growth in the previous years.

Experts said generation of electricity in states with substantial hydro-based capacity_Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala_had also increased.

The 89 per cent year-or-year increase in telecom capacity during April-May 1998 was mainly due to the negative growth (-47 per cent) in the same period of the previous year. Typically, increase in telecom capacity is bunched towards the end of a fiscal year when the department of telecommunications procures equipment to meet almost the entire year's targets.

However, DoT is trying to change this trend and wants to increase capacity more evenly through the year.

The news from the other sectors is bad and promises to worsen in coming months. For instance, the transport sectors, both cargo handled at ports and revenue earning goods traffic on railways, have registered negative growth rates in April-May. Their performance is expected to continue to dip when data for June_when the cyclone hit the Kandla port_comes in.

Cargo handled at major ports dropped year-on-year 5.1 per cent in April-May 1998 when it clocked just 40.33 million tonnes, compared to 42.50 million tonnes in the same period the previous year. A monthly cargo handling of 20 million tonnes is expected to take a hit on account of the 15-day break in operations at the Kandla port.