Minister for Electricity A. K. Balan has said that Kerala State Electricity Board will continue to be a public sector undertaking despite pressure on the government to unbundle the Board.
The Minister, inaugurating a function here on Saturday to declare Aluva Assembly Constituency a totally electrified area, said that he considered it an achievement to have been able to defend the Board against unbundling and putting up a creditable performance on the power front as landmark achievements by the LDF government.
Other States had gone ahead with unbundling their Electricity Boards but Kerala had stood firm in its resolve to preserve it as a public sector undertaking, said the Minister as he appealed to leaders of other political parties to learn from the example of Kerala and to defend the Board's status.
Mr. Balan said that the Electricity Board and the Power Department were working on a plan to ensure that there would be no power crisis in the State for the next 20 years.
Increased generation; better savings in electricity and strengthening of distribution infrastructure are among the measures.
Complete electrification of Aluva constituency involved putting 6.5 kms of overhead lines to provide connections to 523 housing units.
The Board spent nearly Rs. 40 lakh of its own fund and Rs. 10 lakh from the MLA fund.