BSES employees want KSEB to take over power plant

With BSES Kerala Power Limited at Eloor declaring a lockout, employees of the unit have appealed to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to consider taking over the power plant and shift feedstock from naphtha to natural gas.

Trade union sources said on Tuesday that with the KSEB refusing to renew the power purchase agreement with BSES Ltd., the plant had been idling. “Around 150 employees have been laid off without wages and under these circumstances the Board can consider taking over the plant,” they said.

Representatives of the laid-off workers had met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the issue, sources said. They also said that Electricity Minister M.M. Mani had promised to meet them soon to discuss the issue. Sources said there were 110 permanent employees and 47 contract workers at the BSES plant, which was established in 1996.

The laid-off workers said that since Kerala faced a shortage of power, it was possible for the Board to take over the plant, which had an installed capacity of 165 MW. With work on the natural gas pipeline progressing fast, it would be easy to effect a feedstock change, they said.

BSES Ltd. was established as an independent power producer in the State with a power purchase agreement with the KSEB. However, the Board had not been buying power from the company as the cost of the power from the Pathalam plant was costly compared to other available options.

The employees said there was no impediment in the KSEB taking over the plant as the power purchase agreement had not bee renewed by the Board. The employees have started an indefinite dharna before the power plant, demanding the protection of their rights.