Blueprint to get in the black

Ranchi, Dec. 11: Stop buying power from Damodar Valley Corporation, give incentives to employees and legalise illegal connections are some of the measures proposed in a turnaround blueprint prepared for the Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB).

The 26-page plan, prepared a couple of months ago, has set a three-year deadline to change the fiscal health of JSEB, which incurs a loss of over Rs 80 crore a month. The power utility’s monthly income is about Rs 90 crore.

The blueprint suggests the board immediately stop buying power from Damodar Valley Corporation, which is selling power at about Rs 1.00 more than the rate at which other power utilities are selling to JSEB. The board can save Rs 15 crore a month if it stops this purchase, the plan states.

There are over three lakh illegal power connections, which is draining the JSEB and yet not contributing towards its coffers. To tackle them, the turnaround plan suggests that efforts have to be made to legalise these connections through schemes that waive off a percentage of dues. This move would give JSEB about Rs 9 crore a month, according to the plan.

The document also advocates “preventive maintenance” of machinery and equipment in the thermal plants. “Give incentives to employees to ensure that the plant functions without any snags that could disrupt supply,” suggests the turnaround sketch.

JSEB officials said efforts are on to implement the proposals.

JSEB chairman Shivendu has written to chief secretary M. K. Mandal requesting him to talk to Damodar Valley Corporation authorities to slash the purchase rate. Else, said JSEB sources, they would look for other power suppliers.

Some of the measures have been implemented and are giving favourable results. “Since November, we have started giving spot connections to illegal consumers. So far, we have collected Rs 9 crore through this drive,” said a JSEB official.

Besides these suggestions, the plan also calls for police stations to exclusive deal with power pilferage, “as the present police stations are not inclined to tackle such cases”. Retired CRPF and BSF jawans can be hired on contract to conduct raids and detect power thefts, it suggests.

Other proposals include establishing a special cell for industrial consumers, a cell comprising technical and legal experts to resolve of all cases, which is expected to boost the revenues by more than Rs 10 lakh a month.

Additional revenue of about Rs 250 crore can be earned by sale of scarp. Computerising inventory management and control system, for stock-keeping, will also help streamline operations.

By allowing private agencies to transport coal, it adds, JSEB can cut monthly losses by about Rs 3 crore.