GUWAHATI, Oct 1 � From today, the Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL) began procuring 160 MW of power from the spot market at the rate of Rs 12 per unit at the sending end, which will finally turn into around Rs 15 per unit, considering the 30 per cent transmission and distribution loss, to meet the shortfall in power supply. Till date, the State is witnessing a shortfall of over 300 MW.
The power company will now be paying between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 60 lakh per day for purchasing additional amount of power. It was earlier spending between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 40 lakh per day on purchasing additional amount of power at the rate of around Rs 6 per unit at the sending end.
Debopriya Das, Member Technical of the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) said at a press conference here today that the State�s power scenario is unlikely to improve until it receives power from the ongoing 740-MW Palatana Thermal Power Station in Agartala and the 750-MW Bongaigaon Thermal Power Station. These projects are expected to be commissioned by 2012. Assam�s shares in these projects respectively stand at 240 MW and 380 MW.
Das is also the Chief General Manager (CGM) of the Central Assam Power Distribution Zone. CGM, Upper Assam Power Distribution Zone Champak Barua and CGM, Lower Assam Power Distribution Zone Sankar Kar also spoke on the occasion.
The power company is now incurring a loss of around Rs 30 crore per month. It is expected that it would be able to reduce its monthly loss to around Rs 20 crore with the realization of the enhanced tariff at the rate of 56 paise per unit from the current month as part of the fuel and power purchasing price adjustment mechanism. The enhanced tariff was effected in August last.
The APDCL senior officials said that on September 28, 29 and 30, the State could not procure additional power from the spot market due to sudden three-fold hike in power price caused by the overall power shortage at the national grid by the Telengana agitation and the devastating earthquake in Sikkim.
Moreover, the APDCL could receive only 457 MW, 542 MW and 539 MW of power from the Central Sector Generating Stations on September 28, 29 and 30 last respectively, against the 753 MW of allotted power leading to shortfalls of 364 MW, 311 MW and 326 MW respectively, they said.
The senior APDCL officials regretted the vandalism resorted to by a section of the people in the APDCL offices.
