Calcutta, Nov. 10: Bengal will complete the state electricity board’s restructuring by next year, power minister Mrinal Banerjee told representatives of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and its counterparts in 23 states here today.

The restructuring is mandatory under the Electricity Act 2003.

Banerjee said the power utility would be split into two companies separately looking after transmission and distribution. “The two companies will be totally government controlled. The SEB is already making profits. After the restructuring, we expect to perform better,” he added.

After the act came into effect, a panel headed by former state planning board member Subimal Sen recommended the split to restructure the board. After the break-up, the state board will cease to exist.

But the restructuring was delayed following protests from various quarters, including trade unions and some of the Left Front partners.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Banerjee and power secretary Sunil Moitra met the forum officials today to discuss the Bengal’s performance in rural electrification under the Rajiv Gandhi Bidyutikaran project.

The state’s failure to fully implement the village scheme is one of the reasons why it has ranked fifth among all states in its performance in the power sector this year, Banerjee said after the meeting.

Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Karnataka are still ahead of Bengal, which ranked eighth last year.

During a visit in February, Union power minister Sushil Shinde had criticised the Bengal government for failing to implement the rural electrification project and asked four central agencies — NTPC, National Hydel Power Corporation, Damodar Valley Corporation and Power Grid Corporation — to assist the state board in implementing the scheme.

However, Banerjee today said the rural electrification project would be complete by next March.

The chairman of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, Ashok Basu, said the forum of regulatory bodies was going to every state for better co-ordination with the local governments to provide better services to consumers.

“We are meeting the chief ministers and power ministers in every state and telling them, among other things, what we intend to do in order to improve services” said Basu.