Discoms may get central aid to enhance infrastructure

Giving in to the demands of the power department and private distribution companies, the Central government has said it will consider giving grant to them for augmenting the present infrastructure.

Giving in to the demands of the power department and private distribution companies, the Central government has said it will consider giving grant to them for augmenting the present infrastructure.

HT Image

Sources said a meeting of all power ministers took place on Tuesday and the Delhi power minister expressed unhappiness over the fact that despite reducing power thefts, the city is still not getting any aid from the Centre.

"In the past 10 years, distribution companies and the power department have invested but there are still a number of cables and conductors that were designed for a particular life and need to be replaced. We want to get assistance under the accelerated power development and reform programme (APDRP) to improve the infrastructure," said a senior Delhi government official.

Sources added that the Centre has decided to look into the matter and provide monetary help. Till now, states where the power sector has been privatised are not eligible for assistance.

"There has been very little support from the Centre because Delhi does not qualify for grants under schemes such as the APDRP. Considering Delhi's position as the national capital and also its demand graph, there should be some relief," added the official.

According to sources, the Centre has helped various states to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore under the APDRP since 2008. Under the scheme, soft loans have been provided to states for renovating, modernising and strengthening the power systems.

"The Centre has been helping various state governments but there seems to be no head under which the discoms can be helped," said an official of the power department.