Aborted Power Reforms Switched Progress Off In Haryana

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: * In its 2001-02 tariff order, the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission says: “The Commission is distressed to note that distribution losses, instead of showing a decreasing trend, have actually been increasing...line losses in all the circles have either increased or are more or less at the same level”. Transmission and distribution (T&D) losses in the state are over 40 per cent

* Last week, Maj Gen BS Rathee, chairman of state-owned power utilities HVPNL, UHBVNL and DHBVNL, indicated that close to Rs 1,400 crore would be invested in separate schemes to combat rising T&D losses. He also said that the government of Haryana is committed to provide quality power to all at competitive rates

* With a total installed capacity of 1990 mw as of August 18, power shortage in Haryana was (-)16.82 per cent. This is 12 per cent higher than the shortage experienced in Delhi; more than 6 per cent higher than the shortage experienced in Uttar Pradesh and 14 per cent above the regional average of (-)2.04 per cent

* The rapid real estate development seen in Gurgaon and beyond is based on the promise that people don’t have to worry about power supply from the Haryana government. All offices and residential complexes come with ‘100 per cent power back-up’. Some residential and office complexes have generators that can produce upto 3 mw of power

It is not commonly known that Haryana, which was a forerunner in the power reforms programme, was also among the first states to experience a ‘go-slow’ after regime change. It started out well by adopting the Haryana Electricity Reform Act in 1998 and going full steam ahead on the reforms front. But one of the first few decisions taken by the Om Prakash Chautala government after it came to power in Haryana in late 1999 was to adopt a ‘hands-off’ policy on power supply to the agriculture sector.

Much before YS Rajasekhara Reddy in Andhra Pradesh, it was Chautala’s government that publicly took a soft stance on supply to the agricultural sector. Power sector reforms in the state have not progressed since then.

In fact, government officials today openly say that “power may be subsidised to provide support to certain factions, but there is no reason to provide free power to anyone.”