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Gujarat :Power generation by govt-owned units dipped by 30% in last 1 year

Power generation by Gujarat government-owned units have dipped by almost 30% in the last one year. Between September 2012 and July 2013, about 16 state-owned power plants generated 21,720 million units of electricity. This is about 30% less than the 30,315 million units (MUs) generated during the same period a year ago, stated a written reply by state Energy Minister Saurabh Patel to a question posed by Congress MLA from Sanand, Karmashi Patel during the on-going monsoon session of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. The biggest dip in power generation was noticed at Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited's (GSECL) Utaran power plant where the power generation dipped to 406 MUs from the earlier 2166 MUs.

Power generation units of the state-run Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, Gujarat Industries Power Company Ltd, Gujarat State Energy Generation Company Ltd (Hazira) and Gujarat Industrial Power Company Ltd, saw a dip in power production.

Meanwhile, the average cost of power generated by state-owned units were the highest, when compared to those generated by private power producers and Central government-controlled units, during the last one year. The average cost of power from state-owned units stood at Rs 3.82 per unit which was more than Rs 2.78 per unit of power bought by Gujarat from the Central government-owned units and Rs 3.30 per unit from private power producers, stated another reply by the state government to a question posed by Nirajan Patel, a Congress MLA from Petlad.

The figures presented during the current session of the Gujarat Assembly also show that compared to the 21,720 MUs of power generated by state-owned units, Gujarat government bought 31,554 MUs of power from private power producers and 18,417 MUs from Central government units during the same period in the state between September 2012-July 2013.

These power-generation figures of state-owned units comes at a time when the Opposition, Congress Party, has been claiming that the bulk of the power generated in Gujarat comes from Central government and private power producers. The state government has also mentioned in one of its replies that some of the state-owned units in Gujarat have not been functional during certain months of 2013.

State to add over 2,000 MW

Gujarat currently has an installed power generation capacity of 22,000 MW (Mega Watt). But it plans to add 2,086 MW during the fiscal 2013-14, said state Energy Minister Saurabh Patel.

Source: The Indian Express