Despite ambitious plans and promises, the Uttar Pradesh government may not be able to fulfill its target of capacity additions in the power sector to the tune of 10,000 mw by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan. Since no capacity addition had been done in the 10th Five year Plan, there was greater stress for fulfilling the targets fixed for the 11th Plan period.

However, even after a year of the Plan period having kicked off, no new project has taken off in the last two years, literally forcing the power sector into the dark.

According to experts, the current situation of the energy sector in the state does not bode well for any kind of development or industrialisation. In fact, this may be the reason for the desertion of whatever little industry there is left in the state. ?While the average energy demand in the state is pegged at around 8,000 mw in winters and 9,000 mw in summers, the state?s own generation capacity at present is a paltry 2,700 mw, including thermal and hydel. The remaining requirement is met by importing around 3,500 mw from the Central pool. But despite importing power, there is an average shortfall of approximately 2,000 mw everyday, which leads to heavy roistering,? says an expert in the state energy sector.

In fact, the situation becomes so bad at times that the state has to purchase power from outside at exorbitant prices. ?As much as Rs 14,000 crore is spent by the state government annually for buying power and in fact the CERC, too, has issued notices to the state government warning it for overdrawing power and violating the grid discipline,? revealed a senior engineer of the energy sector.

What is worse is the fact that there appears to be no respite from the gloomy days for years to come. Though some projects in the public sector as well as the private sector have been commissioned and work on them is on, it seems to be a case of too little, too late. ?Work on the 2x250mw Paricha extention and 2×250 Harduaganj extension projects, along with the 2×500 mw Anpara D project, all in the public sector, is on and they are expected to be completed in the next four years. The 600 mw Roja thermal power plant, which has been bagged by Reliance Power and the 1980mw Meja thermal, which is a joint venture project between the NTPC and the UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam are also expected to be completed by the end of the 11 th plan period. But the increase of approximately 4500 mw would be of no use as the demand by that time is also set to rise by another 3000 mw at least. Thus, the present deficit scenario of approximately 2000 mw will continue to haunt the state even then,? opined the engineer.

Another senior official of the Power Corporation added, ?All efforts by the government to promote public-private partnership in the power sector have failed so far. Bids for the two mega power projects in Allahabad, the 1320 mw Karchchana and 1980 mw Bara projects have been cancelled twice and are yet to be decided and awarded. They have been delayed by a year and a half almost and now the Power Corporation is finding it hard to justify why the third bid for Karchchana be handed over to the Japyee group as their bid is higher than the previous two. In fact, it is now trying to wriggle out of the situation by stating that the bid is high due to the global slowdown but the fact of the matter is that the prices of raw materials have come down and hence there is no reason why a higher bid is justified. The government?s promise of becoming a power surplus state by 2012 is a myth.?

Apart from these two projects, Lanco Kondapalli?s Anpara C project, in Sonebhadra and Reliance?s 3840 mw Dadri gas projects are also stuck up. While the Lanco project is caught in the dispute of changing the capacity of the project from 1000 mw to 1200mw, the controversial Dadri gas-based power project, which has been under a cloud ever since its inception, is yet to see the light of the day due to the disputes of gas linkages.

Apart from low generation, the other acute dilemma that ails the already ailing sector is the large amount of electricity theft. ?On an average, around 10% of the electricity is lost due to theft due to direct hooking or illegal power connections, which accounts for almost Rs 2000 crore to the state exchequer. An astounding fact is that while the state has a population base of 17 crore, there are only 1 crore electricity connections. As many as 40 lakh unledgerised consumers have been detected but nothing is being done to stop them,? says a senior engineer with the state Power Corporation.

In fact, the Power Corporation itself has in its website, accepted that the quality and reliability of power supply in Uttar Pradesh is poor with weak T&D systems and lack of maintenance. ?UPPCL lacks in commercial focus and sensitivity to consumer needs with high T&D losses, a low revenuer realization, improper billing and metering, no energy audit and low levels of consumer service. Without proper planning, there have been inefficient resource utilization and non-viable investments,? it says.

In fact, the oft repeated refrain that the Uttar Pradesh government lacks transparency, is also acknowledged by the website. ?We are perceived as a non-transparent organization with high level of external interference and corruption in our operating environment. Employee morale is low and stakeholders are dissatisfied. Corporate governance is poor and there is instability in the corporate setup and employees do not have a secure service environment. We do not have an information system to aid decision-making and our hierarchical structure makes information flow difficult?..?

With so many accepted and acknowledged short-sightedness and inherent shortcomings in the system, is it a wonder then that the future of Uttar Pradesh appears to be powerless and bleak not only to the industry but also to the public in general?