Power sector reforms in State ineffective?
Odisha people bearing brunt of reforms
Bhubaneswar, July 22(Reporters Today Bureau): Odisha is perhaps the first State in the country that in 1996 dared to initiate reforms in the power sector. But as time progressed the woes of the people rose and today questions are asked how long the people will have to go through the grill. A whooping Rs 22,000 crore of the taxpayer in State has been spent to improve the sector but no sign of improvement.
In 1996 the State government handed over the Odisha State Electricity Board to private companies to improve the sector with an aim that it will not have to invest more in the sector and the private companies can utilize the existing infrastructure of the OSEB to improve the sector. But it never happened. The State Government has spent over Rs 22,000 crore from the exchequer so far and has made a provision of Rs 15,000 crore in the current year’s budget. A debate has now raged in the state after these facts surfaced in the State Assembly.
The questions consumers and their representative bodies have begun asking if a vested interest group is behind the failure of the power sector reform initiative.
Between 1999 and 2010 government spent Rs 2246.46 crore. As a result, the total AT&T loss which stood at 56 per cent in 2000 dropped to 36.15 percent. However, Odisha Energy Regulatory Commission warned the State government that unless adequate funds are spent to strengthen the power infrastructure, the sector may face severe consequences. But despite best efforts of the government the private companies entrusted with the distribution responsibility were reluctant to invest and the government was forced to spend money to save any severe situation. Between 2010 and 2020 the State government has again spent nearly Rs 20,000 crore in the sector.
But what is troubling is that the AT&T loss has decreased by only 7 per cent during the ten year period despite spending nearly ten times that the State Government spent between 1999 and 2010 that helped reduce the loss by about 17 per cent.
Will this situation improve and People heave a sigh of relief from exorbitant power tariff—perhaps one the highest in the country despite being a power surplus state.
