GUWAHATI, July 7 ? Power generation in the North East is coming at a high cost. The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) is spending more on security than any other public sector power-generating corporation under the Power Ministry. NEEPCO has demanded that the government should share some of the burden. NEEPCO Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) SC Sharma told newspersons here today that as much as 25 per cent of the Corporation?s 3,276-strong workforce is deployed in security related duties. It is far higher than the three to seven per cent employees assigned similar duties in the NHPC and the NTPC, the two other major power producers in the country. ?It is a cause for concern,? Sharma said, adding that the security costs have so far not been subsidised by the government. ?I am fighting for this.? The CMD said that the unemployment problem in the region is the main reason behind the law and order problems.
NEEPCO is one of the few Central PSUs that has a large proportion of employees belonging to the North East. About 90 per cent of the employees in the Corporation belong to this region. ?Quality and efficiency-wise, my employees are the best,? he said, adding that his organisation has set itself a target to create 2,000 more direct jobs in the next five years.
This is part of NEEPCO?s ambitious future plans. The Corporation plans to add 2,400 MW in its generation capacity by the end of the 11th Plan. Its current installed capacity is 1,130 MW. Of this, the Centre has already sanctioned projects for 880 MW. The Kameng hydel project in Arunachal Pradesh will generate 600 MW while the Tripura gas-based plant will generate 280 MW. NEEPCO plans to add 15,000 MW of power in the next two decades and Arunachal Pradesh is the state where most of it is to be generated. The government of that state has already given NEEPCO the Kameng and Lohit valleys for power generation, Sharma disclosed.
NEEPCO?s future ambitions have been boosted by the turnaround that it has seen in the last couple of years. It is a far cry from the year 2002-03 when the Corporation suffered a loss of Rs 408 crore. In 2003-04, the Corporation garnered a profit of Rs 208 crore. In 2003, the Centre?s Disinvestment Commission recommended that NEEPCO be disinvested.
?The cloud of disinvestments has gone now,? Sharma said. In 2003-04, generation increased by 59 per cent and sales increased by 63 per cent. The Standing Committee on Public Enterprises (SCOPE) that monitors the performance of 275 Central PSUs has now recognised NEEPCO as the best turnaround company in India. In November 2002, NEEPCO had loan liabilities of Rs 2,000 crore primarily to LIC and PFC. Now all loans and interests have been paid off by taking loans at lower interests. In this way, the Corporation is saving Rs 50 crore in interests alone, said Sharma.
NEEPCO has, along the way, got ISO certifications for efficiency, environment friendly operations and safety standards. ?Our aim is to develop ourselves as an international level Corporation,? said Sharma. Banking on its growing reputation, NEEPCO is starting a design and consultancy office in Guwahati that will cater to the needs of other power corporations and private entrepreneurs in the hydro and thermal sector. In an effort to keep power prices attractive for buyers, NEEPCO has decided to maintain the pool tariff to Rs 1.5 per unit till the next five years. Over the next decade, it will restrict tariff to Rs 1.7, the CMD said. In 2003-04, NEEPCO sold 500 MW of power to Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat.
In a bid to sustain the momentum, NEEPCO has set a target to generate 5,000 million units of power this year. It will be 20 to 25 per cent more than what was achieved last year. The profit target has been set at Rs 300 crore. The first quarter results of this fiscal shows that generation has increased by 50 percent, a delighted Sharma announced. He said that no decision has been taken by the Centre yet to export power from India. The one problem that has refused to go, however, is the regular default in payments by the North East states. NEEPCO supplies 60 percent of the total power needs of the region. Assam alone consumes half the power generated by the PSU. Till date, Rs 272 crore is the outstanding due from the states of the region with Sikkim being the lone exception. Sharma said that Manipur tops the list of late payers, followed by Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The non-payment of dues is causing financial hardships to NEEPCO, which has been forced to take short-term loans at high interest rates to make immediate payments.