'More private participation needed in power distribution'

Kolkata, April 23 (IANS) Pitching for more private sector participation in power distribution, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has said it would help improve efficiency and bring down aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses.

"In distribution, the private sector's contribution is only 13 percent. Losses suffered by distribution companies are huge. So more private sector participation is needed," CERC chairperson Pramod Rao told mediapersons here.

Rao said while Mumbai has Tata and Reliance as private players in distribution, Kolkata has CESC.

He said in Delhi, Mumbai and Surat, the losses have been substantially cut down due to the presence of private players.

"In Delhi, AT&C losses are now 15 percent from 52 percent earlier. In Mumbai, it is 11 per cent and Surat it is less than 5 per cent."

He said that private participation in the power sector has more than doubled to 23 percent from 11 percent. It is expected to become 50 percent after a host of power plants start operation by 2017.

Describing the fuel supply agreement (FSA) introduced by Coal India Ltd (CIL) as a "mockery of normative supply norms", Deo said coal would continue to be in short supply.