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Pratim Ranjan Bose

Kolkata , June 17

THE Union Power Ministry is exploring opportunities for bringing Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) under the purview of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) for fixing power tariffs.

Being governed by the DVC Act, 1948 the corporation does not come under the purview of the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, 1998.

The move is expected to benefit DVC, which is jointly governed by the State Governments of West Bengal and Bihar, and the Government of India, and levies a comparatively low tariff for its power generation.

This is despite the fact that the bulk of the power is generated from new thermal units.

According to sources, the Power Ministry has sought the opinion of the Law Ministry on the issue.

The Centre had also asked the DVC to clarify its tariff position before the CERC. The first hearing took place on June 14.

While any effort to bring DVC under the purview of Electricity Regulatory Commission would require amendment of both the Acts, the Power Ministry is believed to have also sought the Law Ministry's opinion on a wide range of issues relating to the mechanism of tariff determination and the array of responsibilities discharged by DVC in its command area.

The Corporation, which was created primarily for flood control in the Damodar Valley, today also looks after command area development and irrigation apart from generation and distribution of power.

The canal network and check dams together irrigate more than four lakh hectares.

The corporation manages five thermal power stations, three hydel stations, and one small gas-based generation unit. While hydel capacity is limited to 144 MW, four of the five thermal stations are almost five decades old and either generate power at a low PLF or are out of operation.

The Mejia thermal power station (4 X 210 MW), set up in the 1990s, alone contributes 70 per cent of DVC's total generation distributed in its command area.

The Ministry is believed to have proposed that while fixing tariff for DVC, the regulatory authority should take care of the social responsibilities discharged by the corporation.

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