Bengal Preparing Blueprint For Power Board Recast

The West Bengal government is finalising the blueprint for a vertical restructuring of the state's power sector. According to its plan, the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL) will take charge of all the thermal power stations while the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) will concentrate on transmission and distribution. Durgapur Projects Ltd (DPL) will be stripped of its power generation and distribution activities and asked to focus on running its coke oven plant, supplying water to all the industries in Durgapur and several other minor activities.

The restructuring process will begin at Durgapur. The power development corporation and the state electricity board are slated to begin managing DPL's generation and distribution activities, respectively, from April 1. This arrangement would continue for one or two years by which time all the details for the formal break-up of DPL would be finalised. Its employees would be given the option of individually choosing their future employer.

 

The Durgapur Projects board is likely to be recast under the temporary arrangement prior to the formal split. Half the directors will look after the power-related activities while the other half will manage the non-power activities.

The restructuring of the other two bodies is likely to take some more time. But the state power department is reported to be convinced about the need for specialist power agencies on the grounds that it would ensure more cost-effective functioning.

For example, the power development corporation runs its Kolaghat power station with a much lower man-mega watts (mw) ratio than the three power plants it is slated to take over after the restructuring: the 395 mw Durgapur station and the two board stations at Bandel (510 mw) and Santaldih (480 mw).

The board currently employs about 39,000 persons, of whom approximately 4,000 man the Bandel and Santaldih stations. Durgapur Projects has a manpower of about 6,000, of which nearly 2,000 work at the power plant. The power development corporation has a strength of 2,500. After the proposed restructuring, the board will employ 35,000 people while the power development corporation will have a strength of about 5,500. DPL will be the smallest with a strength of 4,000.

However, the state government's plan may hit a snag over the issue of the hydel power projects currently owned by WBSEB. The board has just got a Japanese loan for the 900 mw pumped storage hydro-electric power station at the Ayodhya hills in the Purulia district. Another French loan is in the pipeline for a similar project on another side of the hills. With these two hydel projects expected to be commissioned in another decade, the state's hydel capacity will be around 2,000 mw, or about 50 per cent of the state-run thermal power generating capacity.

Logically, the hydel projects too should go to the power development corp, which specialises in generation. However, given the hydel capacity projection, the government may create a separate agency to run only hydel stations.