SWITCH-ON THE 'OFF-POWER'

Where do we go in search of power when actually it is coming towards us? The nature of such a mysterious existence remains still unknown for the so-called 'human-brains'. The different facets of the human civilization have shown that cruelty has always overshadowed the good. In this case, the wither of the golden spring is yet to begin and thus the beginning of such a prosperous time lies in the reforms. When the news of the 'Rationalization of tariffs' in power sector was announced, the one thing that stuck everyone was whether India could be able to pull-off more power with the existing resources. The answer is definitely a sound 'yes’. The power sector reforms as stated by the government in order to regulate the activities of State Electricity Boards (SEBs) and their distribution channels have received overwhelmingly a positive response. There is so much fuss about the structuring of the state capital and shareholding that the regulation of tariffs hardly been noticed. The emancipation of derailment of faults in the power sector administration could well solve this issue of irregularities and introduce a system that is the output of a power sector reform. At present, the SEBs sometimes buys power at Rs.7 to Rs.8 per unit, and sells it to consumers at anything from Rs.3 to Rs.5 per unit, incurring additional losses. Meanwhile for selling the power from an independent producer to the common man, facing huge losses, logically the government couldn't satisfy its purpose of being stable in regulation power. Eventually huge money is again procured from the Central Power Regulation Agency for compensating the losses faced. In such a scenario, introducing the 'rationalization of tariffs' seems to be a must and 'the need of the hour' phenomenon. Unbelievably and astoundingly large, the estimated total losses run up by the SEBs has been pegged at Rs.1.9 lakh crore which is far more larger than the revenue generated by the largest independent power producer. The package the CCEA has now worked out having made the inroads to get back an additional sum for compensations. The dependent States have the time till December 31, 2012 to opt into CCEA for power regulation by a central body with virtual authority by the State itself. The money comes with reform strings attached and this is where the ruling parties of the respective State governments have to bite the bait and obviously go by the reforms. The State governments must commit to revising their power tariff annually through the mentioned regulatory boards to pursue their power regulation through this package. Moreover, the tariff order for 2012-13 will have to be notified before the restructuring package gets approved for the reforms to be completely done. Unfortunately, the SEBs are the reason for transmission and distribution losses, which account for as much as 40 per cent of output in some States and thus cutting the losses will enhance more power and less losses. To get straight, while states like Gujarat, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are able to regulate power through independent power producers why cannot the most of the other States with available resources resort to tide over crisis-like situations like now? The evident answer is to be analyzed and approved. Rain flows cautiously even. Our minds think like the same. If it is for the good, then the results are better. Wish such minds think about power reforms and the situation just gets better!