'Powerless' Bihar sees light at end of elections-Oct 13, 2010

'Powerless' Bihar sees light at end of elections

Navendu Sharma, TNN, Oct 13, 2010, 02.05am IST



PATNA: "Bharatmata gramvasini" ( India lives in villages), the bard had said. That being true of Bihar as well, it can be said metaphorically that "lalten" (incidentally, lantern is RJD's poll symbol) rules the state even now as the countryside gets enveloped in darkness after dusk due to power crunch.

Power is one area where the Nitish government does not have much to show by way of achievement. Against the daily demand of 3,000 mw, generation from the state government's moribund thermal power units at Kanti (near Muzaffarpur) and Barauni rarely exceeds 150 mw. As such, the bulk of the state's power needs is met by supply from central sector units. The state's quota from the central pool is around 1,650 mw, but the availability is usually lower between 900-1,200 mw.

As per the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) figures, on October 3, power availability from the central sector was 1,269 mw and a mere 93 mw from other sources (read state government units), bringing the total supply to 1,362 mw. After earmarking 369 mw for priority consumers like railways and others, total availability for distribution was 993 mw. Out of this, the lion's share went to Patna, 413 mw, leaving very little for the rest of the state.

The state government did sign MoUs with Bhel Ltd to refurbish its two units, but not much progress has been made. Initiatives to promote new power unitshave not borne fruit, allegedly due to the Centre's discriminatory attitude by denying coal linkage. Deputy chief minister, Sushil Kumar Modi, is on record that the fate of proposals to set up 19 new power units in the private sector with a proposed capacity of about 25,000 mw hangs in balance due to this. If the Centre gives coal linkage for these units, then Bihar could turn over a new leaf in the power sector, goes the refrain.

On the positive side, the government has formed a joint venture with NTPC to implement a 1,980 mw power project at Nabinagar. Expansion schemes for theBarauni and Kanti units have been approved. Some small hydel projects have been completed and work on eight other small hydel projects is on.

Steps have also been taken to strengthen the transmission and distribution network and speed up rural electrification work. Shashi Mohan, vice-president of the Bihar Chamber of Commerce (BCC), vouches for the work done for rural electrification, but adds that power availability is poor.

P K Agrawal, BCC president, underscores the crucial role played by power in improving living standards. "If Bihar emerges as a power surplus state in the next four-five years, as is projected, then the state's growth will get a big boost." He suggests that the state government should go for gas-based and hydro power units. "Non-conventional energy, particularly solar energy, should also be accorded priority."

Sanjay Goenka, secretary general of the Bihar Industries Association, finds many loose ends in the government's power policy. "BSEB remains to be restructured to tone up its working — its transmission and distribution losses are too high. As the fate of many proposed large thermal power units hinges on Centre-state relations, the Nitish government should promote small biomass-based power plants (using rice husk) and substantially recast open access policy.

Renewable energy policy is waiting to be notified for the last one year. If the power scenario is to be turned around, the government should pay more attention to walk the talk," he says.


Read more: 'Powerless' Bihar sees light at end of elections - The Times of India