The Hindu Business Line : Maharashtra power distribution co seeks Rs 5,000-cr loan from PFC

THE Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) is seeking a loan of about Rs 5,000 crore from Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd (REC) to upgrade its distribution infrastructure by 2010.

Mr Sanjay Bhatia, Managing Director, MSEDCL, told Business Line that in the last nine years, there has been no upgradation of power infrastructure.

"Our transmission and distribution losses are currently at 35.2 per cent (2004-05) and there is are cumulative arrears of about Rs 10,000 crore from our customers. To surmount these problems and turnaround the company, we are going in for the infrastructure upgradation plan," Mr Bhatia said.

MSEDCL, the distribution arm of the now unbundled, Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), was formed in June 2005. It inherited from the parent company MSEB a turnover of Rs 15,000 crore and a cash deficit of over Rs 1,000 crore. The current demand-supply gap is 3,500-4,000 megawatts (MW) and the highest demand has been 12,749 MW in (2004-05). The collection efficiency is 90.03 per cent and average cost of supply is Rs 3.68 per unit, whereas collection is Rs 2.97 per unit.

Mr Bhatia said that the MSEDCL has chalked out a 10-point programme to execute its plans.

The programme includes proactive planning for MSEDCL's distribution network.

"In the past, we were doing reactive planning. Only when the need arose, we set up an electrical sub-station. Today, we want to do capacity building for our power distribution system. Through proactive planning, even feedback from the sub-division level, which is the lowest rung in the hierarchy, would be part of the planning process," Mr Bhatia said.

Load plans will be created at a sub-division level that will calculate the current loads and make a forecast for the future demand.

"We will make construction work plans, on which our whole capacity building is based," Mr Bhatia said.

"Earlier, planning was at a State level. Now, we want to do it at a sub-division level. Planning would be from a macro-level to a micro-level. We will record the increase in the annual growth in the load factor and use this as a base for micro level planning," Mr Bhatia said.

Mr Bhatia added that MSEDCL is keen on implementing SCADA, MIS, e-tendering and e-billing systems under its new plans.

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