Gridco Makes A Mark In Cutting Transmission Losses

The Grid Corporation of Orissa (Gridco) has brought down the transmission and distribution (T&D) losses by 8.4 per cent during the first half of the current year.

This is a significant achievement as the companys T&D losses, at 46.4 per cent, were among the highest recorded by any distribution company in the country.

The reduction in T&D losses has already shown positive results on the resource position of the company by improving the revenue collection.

The collection during the first six months of the current financial year was Rs 509.67 crore against the total collection of Rs 964 crore during 1996-97. The company suffered a loss over Rs 400 crore in last fiscal.

Reduction in T&D losses is one of the focus areas of the ongoing World Bank-aided reforms process in the states power sector which led to the creation of Gridco last year in place of erstwhile Orissa State Electricity Board (OSEB).

The reduction of 8.4 per cent in T&D losses in first half of the year is against a target of 12 per cent set for the whole year by the State Electricity Regulatory Commis-sion, another autonomous body created under the power reforms to oversee and coordinate the activities in the sector.

The commission, while allowing Gridco to raise the power tariff by 10 per cent in April, had asked the company to bring down the T&D losses to 35 per cent by end of 1997-98. This, the commission felt, would significantly improve the resource position of the company and reduce the pressure on it to go for tariff hikes too often in order to make up the huge losses.

However, the then Gridco chairman M Y Rao had rejected the commission plea on the ground that even if the company takes steps immidiately, it would at best reduce the T&D losses by 10 per cent by the year-end. Hence, the average reduction for the whole year will be only five per cent, he argued and termed the commissions target as impractical.

Despite this improvement in resource position, the collection as percentage of energy sold and billed in the first half, however, has come down to 72 per cent against the 84 per cent recorded during the same period last year. In the circumstances, the higher revenue realisation during the first six months of the current year is mainly on account of higher tariff rate which went up 10 per cent in April.