The pace of changes being unfurled in Uttar Pradesh?s infrastructure sector in recent times is big. Yet this is the scale of operation that is required to make any appreciable difference to living standards in a state, which, in terms of population, can rank as the fifth largest country in the world. It all started with the efforts to build new state highways to the hinterlands and the opening up of the Yamuna Expressway and Greater Noida Expressway to the private sector, which facilitated investments of Rs 9,935 crore and Rs 35,000 crore, respectively. Now UP alone accounts for 80% of the nationwide investments in state highways using the PPP mode. In the power sector, as reported in FE over the last two days, UP has contracted out over 25,000 MW of power generation projects, which is around two and a half times the current power generation capacity installed in the state. A crippling shortage of energy could become history, once these projects become operational. This is the first step to also create incentive for mobilising investments into the state in other sectors.
Simultaneously encouraging have been the innovative schemes to provide quality power by separating domestic and commercial feeder systems. This will not only help further reduce AT&C losses but also motivate the farming community to pay higher tariffs. UP has made steady progress on both these counts in recent years. AT&C losses by the state power utilities have been brought down from 33.3% in 2008-09 to 30% in 2009-10, which is lower than the national average. The power tariff to agriculture has gone up from Rs 1.68 to Rs 1.94 per Kwh over the last two years, with the state farmers paying at least one-fifth more than in the other states. The introduction of the franchise system for the distribution of power in Agra and Kanpur, and plans to extend it to more areas show commendable zeal, which is missing in most other parts of the country. The state has been able to improve average tariff collections by one-tenth in the last fiscal year, which is more than five times the nation average. The most pleasant surprise is the plan to privatise power transmission, which is yet to be tried out in most states. The impact of the innovative programmes is now also reflected in the state?s balance sheets. The state has lowered the commercial loss of the state power utilities from Rs 6,621 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 5,593 crore in 2009-10, even as the total losses of the electric utilities in 20 major states soared from Rs 51,670 crore to Rs 58,235 crore over the period. The state seems to be finally coming into its own.
