Ranchi, May 22: About half the power Jharkhand receives ends up unaccounted for and officials of the Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) attribute it to theft and transmission losses — a staggering revelation given that the state buys at least 300MW of power from the central grid daily.

According to data released by JSEB in February, a total of 6,187.71 lakh units were received from the central grid as well as internal generation. But the board was able to account for 3,555.69 lakh units — a little more than 50 per cent — only.

“The balance 2632.02 lakh units have been booked under transmission, distribution and commercial losses which in other words means thefts,” admitted a JSEB official.

The highest incidence of power thefts has been reported from Chatra division where nearly 73 per cent of power supplied was “stolen” or unaccounted for.

Even Ranchi doesn’t lag behind with over 44 per cent of power supplied to the grid remaining unaccounted for.

JSEB chairman Brij Mohan Verma admitted that the problem was grave but clarified that efforts were on to curb the trend. For instance, installation of tele-meters at JSEB’s headquarters to monitor consumption by industries was nearly complete.

And apart from the technical measures that had been initiated during the last year, JSEB conducted 758 raids and filed claims of over Rs 1 crore.

Verma added that power adalats were being organised to grant spot connections to consumers to root out the high incidence of power thefts.