Odisha demands greater allocation under DDGY

The state has sought Rs 2,700 cr under IPDS

The Odisha government today demanded greater allocation under Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDGJY) from the Union power ministry. It also urged the central ministry to sanction Rs 2700 crore for the state under the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS). The demands were raised before Union minister for coal & power Piyush Goyal in New Delhi by state energy minister Pranab Prakash Das. “We urged the Union power minister to step up allocation under DDGJY. Against Odisha's demand of Rs 2800 crore, the ministry has sanctioned Rs 1648 crore.

Besides, the ministry has sanctioned only 200,000 households under electrification compared to our demand for 1.2 million households”, said Hemant Sharma, chairman cum managing director of Gridco, the state owned bulk power purchaser.

DDGJY's objectives include electrification of un-electrified villages and hamlets (irrespective of population), strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural areas and separation of agriculture and non-agriculture feeders.

According to the 2011 Census, out of 47677 villages, 40442 villages in the state have been electrified. Similarly, 51,67,284 out of 96,37,820 households have been electrified.

Apart from DDGJY, Odisha appealed to the Centre to sanction Rs 2700 crore under IPDS. “Presently, the Centre has not sanctioned anything for Odisha under IPDS. The proposal submitted by us is being appraised”, Sharma said.

The IPDS scheme is aimed at strengthening the sub-transmission and distribution network including metering and IT upgradation of distribution sector.

The existing Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (R-APDRP) which debarred private companies from availing funds, was subsumed in the IPDS scheme and the approved outlay for R-APDRP is carried forward to IPDS. All distribution companies (discoms), including private firms, are eligible for financial assistance under the IPDS scheme.

The other objectives of IPDS are 24x7 power supply to urban consumers, reduction of AT&C (aggregate technical & commercial) loss, improvement in billing efficiency and collection efficiency. Presently, the AT&C loss in the state stands at 39.72 per cent.

At the meeting, the state government also raised the issue of de-notification of costly power from NTPC stations located outside Odisha.

The state has to fork out Rs 7.22 per unit for power procured from NTPC stations located outside the state against the procurement cost of Rs 3.15 for power bought from an NTPC plant located within the state.

The Union ministry of power, in July 2012, had allocated 418 Mw power to Odisha from Barh Stage-I (3x660 Mw) and 166 Mw power from Barh Stage-II (2x660) of NTPC situated in Bihar. As per NTPC bill, the total procurement of power from these stations comes to Rs 7.22 per unit including capacity charge of Rs 2.80 per unit and energy charge of Rs 4.42 per unit.