Upgrading power infra: Chandigarh to submit proposal to Central Govt for grant

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 21

To upgrade the power infrastructure, the UT Administration will submit a proposal to receive grant from the Central Government.

UT Adviser Dharam Pal said the Central Government had issued guidelines for upgrading the power infrastructure of the distribution company. After attending a meeting chaired by the Union Power Minister, the Adviser said: “Whether we need upgraded transformers or pre-paid smart meters or other such improvements in the infrastructure, the Engineering Department will prepare a list and accordingly finalise a proposal. The proposal has to be submitted within three months.”

For the smooth supply of power, the UT Electricity Department needs to upgrade its power distribution system in the city.

During the peak summer season, residents had to face frequent power snags as the electricity infrastructure in the city could not bear the increased load. Faulty transformers and those which have completed their life span caused disruption in power supply, said an official of the Electricity Department.

Old transformers were being used below their capacity and as a result, consumers had to face unscheduled power cuts during the peak summer season, he added. Southern sectors of the city were the most affected with power outages due to extra load on power infrastructure.

Replacement of outdated infrastructure would help in improving the power supply and reduce breakdown of transformers, which would result in lesser power cuts during the extreme weather conditions, said the official.

The department’s project of converting the existing overhead lines into an underground system in Sector 8 is yet to be completed. It is part of the department’s 20-year roadmap for improving power infrastructure in the city. The Joint Electricity Regularity Commission (JERC) had given an approval of Rs17.89 crore for the project on a pilot basis.

Moreover, the department is also yet to complete the installation of 30,000 smart meters in the city. So far, nearly 50 per cent of the work, which was started in 2016, has been completed.

However, the UT Administration has recently sent the final bid report on privatisation of the Electricity Department to the Ministry of Power.

The Ministry will now take up the bid report with the Union Cabinet for final approval. After that, the department will be handed over to the highest bidder.

On November 9, 2020, the UT Engineering Department had invited bids for the privatisation of the Electricity Department and seven companies – Sterlite Power, ReNew Wing Energy, NESCL (NTPC), Adani Transmission Ltd, Tata Power, Torrent Power and Eminent Electricity Power Company – had submitted their bids.

On August 4, financial bids were opened. Eminent Electricity Distribution Limited – a subsidiary of CESC Limited, which is a flagship company of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group – had submitted the highest bid of Rs871 crore. The amount was five times the reserve price of nearly Rs174 crore.

On August 9, the Empowered Committee on the privatisation of the UT Electricity Department gave its approval to the highest bid quoted by Eminent Electricity Distribution Limited.

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