Centre must penalise states for overdrawing power: Assocham

The centre needs to ensure maintenance of grid discipline, and states over-drawing power from the transmission lines must be penalised, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said here Sunday.

"In the face of sweltering heat in most parts of the country pushing demand for electricity, the authorities should announce that maintaining a grid discipline will remain sacrosanct and it will not hesitate to penalise the states over-drawing power from the transmission lines," the industry lobby said in a statement.

It said aerial patrolling of transmission lines along with better emergency restoration systems should become priorities.

Over-drawal of power by states and the inability of distribution networks to cope with emergency situations like thunderstorms are the biggest risks which can break power lines for up to days, the industry lobby said.

Pointing to chinks in the national capital region's transmission maintained by state-run Delhi Transco during the May 30 storm, the chamber said: "It is evident not enough investment has been made in upgrading transmission systems and transformers."

"The local transmission network companies not only in Delhi but also in other states should install high-technology systems such as aerial patrolling of the high voltage lines and transmission, better emergency restoration systems, preventive maintenance and online equipment monitoring," added Assocham secretary general D. S. Rawat.

"A country aiming to grow by a double digit and wanting to become global manufacturing hub cannot afford to compromise on continuous and quality supply of power," Assocham said.