Nitish Kumar kept Bihar in dark: CAG
Report says the state didn’t draw its full share of power
New Delhi: In a development that may weaken the chances of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s party JD(U) in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the CAG’s report on Bihar’s state of affairs on electricity front has rapped the state government for not only failing to draw its quota of electricity from the central pool, but also losing out of revenue worth Rs 30 crore.
Incidentally, the state has long been starved of power forcing people to live in darkness. As per the 17th Electricity Power Survey of India, the total anticipated power requirement for 2011-12 in Bihar was 19,905 million units noted the CAG report, adding that for the same year the state was, however, allocated 12,284.83 mu.
The report further revealed that out of the total allocated units of power, the state pledged to purchase 12,144.44 mu, which was expected to cost the state Rs 4,393.44 crore at an average rate of Rs 3.62 per unit of electricity.
Finding fault with the state government ability, the report said, “A detailed scrutiny of records revealed that out of the total 12,144.44 mu power available through purchase, the Bihar Electricity Board did not draw 664.15 mu power. The left out power was then considered as sale through Unscheduled Interchange. Thus, 664.15 mu valuing Rs 209.95 crore was sold under UI at an average value of Rs 3.16 per unit which was purchased at an average cost of Rs 3.62 per unit.”
As per the power-trading norm UI means that if a state fails to draw a certain amount of pledged power from the central pool, the same is offered to others at a lower cost.
Such a practice is also known as spot purchase of power by either state or any other entity.
“We observed that although there was acute shortage of power in the state and the power supplied by the Board was 54.25 per cent of the requirement in 2011-12, the Board did not draw the scheduled allocated power and ultimately it was sold under UI at a loss of Rs 0.46/unit,” the report said.
Quantifying the loss incurred by the state because of its failure to draw power, the CAG said, “The Board suffered loss of Rs30.32 crore as compared to average cost of power purchase during 2011-12.”