Ranchi, Oct. 8: Jharkhand State Electricity Board today claimed that the state had surplus power, forcing JSEB to return as much as 120 MW to the central pool.

JSEB chairman S. N. Verma, who appeared before the Jharkhand High Court in connection with a PIL filed, said the board had improved generation and transmission of power in the past couple of months.

But, generating stations in the state were saddled with old equipment which needed continuous repair. Steps were being taken to change the equipment in a phased manner to ensure uninterrupted power supply.

The JSEB chairman said power supply in Santhal Pargana had also improved. Now, there was power in the districts of the region for 22 hours, a drastic improvement from 8 to 10 hours a day earlier.

JSEB, he said, had also appointed franchisees for independent power supply in the districts of Ranchi and Jamshedpur.

The court appreciated JSEB’s efforts in improving the power situation in the capital and ordered Verma to file a status report on the work undertaken so far and future plans to improve the power situation.

The case would be heard again on December 19.

Verma said peak hour power consumption in Ranchi was 220 MW while at other times it was about 170 MW. The board, he said, was generating enough power to cater to the demands of the state.

The PIL, filed by M.S. Mittal in 2001, called for improving the power supply in the state capital of Ranchi. However, while hearing the case, the court subsequently widened the ambit of the petition and chose to consider the overall power scenario in the state.

Since then, the high court has been continuously monitoring the case and even ordered the state government and JSEB to improve supply and work on consumer confidence.