The Delhi Government has written to the Centre to provide power to distribution companies from the unallocated power quota, following petitions by them.
The power discoms in the city had approached the State Government to pitch in for the move their behalf. A senior official of the Delhi Government said a letter has already been sent to the Union Ministry of Power, but there has been no response so far.
“A letter has been dispatched, we will follow up shortly. The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission too had recommended that Delhi discoms be given cheaper power from the unallocated pool, as it will help in bringing down the spending on power,” said the official.
The discoms had raised the issue citing their financial crisis condition. “The discoms have asked the government for cheaper power allocation in exchange for the expensive power that the companies are being given. For instance they could be given about 200 MW of power from plants that generate cheaper electricity like Singrauli instead of Badarpur Thermal Power Plant which generates costly power. This will help reduce the average cost of procurement and in the long run benefit the consumers,” said a discom official.
Discoms have also complained that the Centre is yet to allocate more gas for the city’s gas-based plants The discoms have also suggested that once the city’s coal-based plants are phased out completely, the allocation of coal should be transferred to NTPC’s Aravalli power project so that the plant can benefit from the good quality and inexpensive coal. The discoms have written to the Ministry of Coal suggesting the transfer of allocation to the Aravalli plant, but say they are yet to hear from the Ministry.
“Steps that help the discoms bring down their spending eventually help the consumers. The impact of interventions like allocating cheap power to the companies cannot be felt immediately, but by the time the tariff determination takes place, the benefit to consumers become noticeable,” said the discom official.
Keywords: unallocated power quota, power discoms
