Infrascape 2013 | Policy reforms to accelerate capacity building in distribution

Ramesh Narayanan, CEO, BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL)

When we reflect on the developments in the power sector in 2012, we find that it was a mixed bag. The generation sector saw a phenomenal, unprec­edented, capacity addit­ion thus, bridging the energy gap to a great extent. Today, the total installed generation capa­city is over 209,000 MW after an addition of over 50,000 MW in the 11th 5 year plan period.

We all realise that the capacity addition at generation level receives substantial policy support and drive through the Central Power Utility, whereas, the distribution and sub-transmission network is fully dependent on state initiatives and the respective state regulatory bodies because of concurrent nature of this sector. Therefore, there is an urgent need in 2013 for suitable policy intervention to correct this aberration, so that there is balanced development in generation, transmission and distribution segments of energy sector and benefits of the developments actually percolates to the end user.

Performance: An uncontrollable factor which has adversely affected the sector is the escalating power cost from generation and transmission companies leading to an increased financial strain on the discoms.

A controllable factor is the containment of AT&C losses and discom operational costs which to a certain extent absorbed the high escalation in generation and transmission cost.

Expectations: We expect suitable policy reforms to accelerate capacity building in the distribution side so that every state is able to liquidate pending new connections and load enhancement for the consumers. We expect suitable policy dire­ctives for making the distribution sector equally attractive so that matching investments could flow in for balanced sectoral develop­ments.
Today, it is unfortunate that the discoms are not adequately represented in any of the regulatory, planning and policy making bodies.

For this purpose, we expect that there will be enough representation of distribution utilities in all policy making bodies so that the actual requirements of the sector in general and end user in particular could be integrated in all such initiatives ensuring that the benefits of the developments can reach them more effectively and efficiently.