Powergrid Plan To Boost Bihar Power Supply

PowerGrid Corporation of India has drawn up elaborate plans to improve the power supply situation in the eastern region, particularly Bihar.

Speaking to newspersons here, the corporations chairman-cum-managing director, R P Singh, said PowerGrid plans to establish a transmission system for evacuation of surplus power from the eastern sector to the northern parts of the country. This would ensure a steady supply of power to consumers.

Besides, evacuation of surplus power would also stabilise the frequency in the eastern grid, which is vital since disturbed frequency levels have caused serious damage to different power-generating units in the eastern region, Singh explained.

 

Responding to queries about the bleak power situation in Bihar, Singh said the supply to north Bihar has been badly affected by the tower collapse at Fathua. The completion of the Ganga crossing at Hatidah had also been pending for a long time, he pointed out. As a result, north Bihar has been receiving a supply of only 100 to 150 mega watts (mw) against a demand of 250 mw.

Singh offered Powergrids services to the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) to complete these two pending projects on a no profit, no loss basis within one year. He said the corporation was also willing to review the BSEBs transmission system planning and assess its future requirements so that a long-term scheme could be framed.

Singh also offered PowerGrids services for installing capacitors at consumer end substations. This would result in better quality of power, less failure of equipment and reduction in transmission and distribution losses, he said.

Speaking about the countrys hydro-power potential, Singh said the north-eastern region had tremendous potential. Terming Arunachal Pradesh as a veritable hydro-power house, he said it had a capacity to generate 53,000 mw.

The PowerGrid chief said the Centre proposed to generate 5,000 mw in the next 10 years in the north-eastern region. This power would be brought to Bihar, Bengal and north India by setting up substations at Ballipara and Siliguri.

The corporation also plans to set up high capacity transmission lines in the Chicken Neck area through which power would be pooled at Purnea in Bihar. Other projects envisaged include construction of a substation at Muzaffarpur and 400 kv lines from Purnea to Gorakhpur, and expansion of Biharshariff to 800 kv.

Singh said a super national grid would be created after these projects were completed. Estimating the cost of these projects at Rs 10,000 crore, he said they were likely to be completed by the end of the 10th five-year plan.

PowerGrid has been enjoying profits for the last three years and currently has a capital base of Rs 8,000 crore. The corporation has a budget of Rs 13,000 crore for the ongoing projects during the ninth five-year plan. However, Singh said PowerGrid would end up spending almost Rs 26,000 crore during this period since it would undertake transmission of power generated by several units that would be set up by private parties.