No allocation for newly formed KSEB Ltd.’
In spite of the pathetic power situation in the State, the Budget presented by Finance Minister K.M. Mani on Friday had no allocation to the newly formed Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd., electricity finance expert D. Shina has said.
In a statement here on Saturday, she said the Finance Minister had blindly followed the misconceived post Electricity Act 2003 practice of avoiding any government support to the State-owned electricity utility.
The KSEB would prepare its own Budget, incorporating its own projected funds and expenditures every year. For the last several years, the practice was to include this in the Budget speech without allocating any additional funds from the State exchequer barring small allocations for some specific projects, such as done the CFL distribution scheme a few years ago.
Dr. Shina said the KSEB budget of Rs.1,176 crore had been included in the State Budget without announcing any assistance from the government. Allocation for energy sector was just Rs.3,980 lakh for the Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), and smaller allocations of Rs.340 lakh to the Meter Testing and Standards Laboratory (MTSL), and Rs.338 lakh for the Energy Management Centre (EMC).
The solar power scheme had been totally ignored, she said.
Now that the KSEB had been converted to a company, the practice of including its Budget in the State Budget could not be the right practice.
The Budgets of other government-owned companies were not included in the State Budget. Only profit or assistance could be brought forward to the State Budget.
Dr. Shina said the Union government and other States were slowly coming out from the concept of distancing themselves from the power sector and were making some allocations. Considering power to be a basic infrastructure for development, the idea of providing it ample budgetary support was gaining momentum among financial experts, Ms. Shina added.
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Solar power scheme has been totally ignored: D. Shina
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‘Union government, other States make allocations to sector’
Dr. D. Shina speaks on Indian Power Sector 