Bihar State Power Holding Company Ltd (BSPHCL) recently signed an agreement with REC Ltd to improve operational efficiencies of the state’s power discoms and to cut AT&C losses.
Accordingly, Bihar state discoms will receive financial assistance as part of the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) where 60 per cent will come from the Centre and 40 per cent from the state government.
Under the agreement, the two state discoms – North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd (NBPDCL) and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd (SBPDCL) – will together get Rs.6,625 crore, to strengthen the power distribution infrastructure. Besides, Rs.1,993 crore will be allocated for smart prepaid metering work. Another Rs.400 crore will be allotted for Information Technology Operational Technology (ITOT), with an objective of significantly cutting AT&C losses by March 2026.
Of the Rs.6,625 crore discussed above, NBPDCL will get Rs.3,100 crore while SBPDCL will be allocated Rs.3,525 crore. For smart prepaid metering, while the northern utility will get Rs.969 crore, the allocation for the southern counterpart will be Rs.1024 crore.
The MoU was signed between Sanjeev Hans, CMD, BSPHCL and Joginath Pradhan, Chief Program Manager, REC Ltd, in the presence of the managing directors of NBPDCL and SBPDCL.
Also read: Bihar Discoms See Sharp Improvement In Revenue Collection
According to Sanjeev Hans the state’s power infrastructure will be strengthened with the allocation of funds. He informed that the target is to reduce AT&C losses of NBPDCL from 25.74 per cent in FY21 to 16 per cent by 2025, and for SBPDCL from 36.80 per cent to 20 per cent, by the same comparison, over the next three years.
Featured photograph for representation only
