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Minister renews call for arresting power theft

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Oct. 11

THE Union Power Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu, has renewed the Government's call for the need to arrest power theft saying sustained saving on this count could help in adding 1 lakh mega watt (MW) in 20 years.

Terming the theft of power as a serious problem, Mr Prabhu said every year Rs 20,000 crore is lost in the power sector through this menace.

``If power thefts could be reduced or stopped, Rs 20,000 crore saved would help in reforming the distribution sector as that is the exact amount required for this,'' he said.

This amount would also reduce the aggregate loss of State Electricity Boards, who lose about Rs 20,000 crore every year.

``If Rs 20,000 crore could be saved per year over the next 20 years, that would save Rs 4 lakh crore, which is the cost of adding 1 lakh MW generation capacity,'' he said.

Inaugurating the Energy Awareness Campaign 'Mission 2012' on Wednesday, Mr Prabhu said the message has to be spread that the power sector faces some very serious problems and the responsibility of bringing the sector back to health lay with the State Gov ernments and citizens as well.

He said that the common man has to be taken into confidence while implementing the reforms in the power sector.

As part of this drive, a nation-wide awareness programme on power sector reforms is being undertaken.

In the first phase of the campaign 2000 road shows would be held between October 15 and November 30. The road shows will be held in all districts and State capitals.