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POWER REFORMS IN A.P. |
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POWER REFORMS IN A.P. |
Digital Dazzle Andhra Pradesh effectively uses Information Technology (IT) as a tool to improve and reform its power sector By SANJAYA DHAKAL in Hyderabad Hundreds of meter-readers of Andhra Pradesh now make calls on 80 houses each day armed with nothing but a small palm-held computing gadget fixed with printer and connected to central database. Upon entering a house, the meter-readers punch the numbers from the electricity meter and then and there print out the bill. The whole operation is automatically recorded in the central database through Internet where inspectors check for any hanky-panky in the affair.
With a view to resolve the problems due to faulty meter-readings that led to frequent customer complaints as well as to break the nexus of unscrupulous meter-readers who abused their authority by under-reading the meters of certain customers, the new system was introduced in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad in 2001. The thumping success of the new system led to the expansion of this simple-yet-sophisticated service to whole of the southern Indian state with population exceeding 80 million. The population of the twin cities alone is over 15 million. "Ever since we began using electronic meter reading system, the customer complaint came down astronomically. With the new system, 98 percent of customers have stopped complaining," said T.V.S.N. Prasad, chairman and managing director of Central Power Distribution Company (CPDC). The company distributes power to seven districts of the central region of the state that includes the capital city of Hyderabad. The home-grown gadget was developed because of revenue leakages owing to faulty meter readings. Hyderabad became the first city in the region to go for the electronic billing. The palm-held computer costs around IRs 11,000 with the payback period of three months. "It has also considerably increased our cash-flow. Earlier, when we had to depend on old system, it took us up to 3 months to get the cash payment from our customers. We used to bill our customers every 2 months and it took us another one month to first send our meter-reader and then send the bill to the customers. With the introduction of computerized spot-billing, this gestation period has been compressed to 1 day triggering phenomenal rise in our cash-flows," said Prasad. According to Prasad, the revenue of CPDC increased by 30 percent in the last two years since the adoption of IT in their services. Out of the total of IRs 8280 million of revenue paid by state-owned power utilities, CPDC alone coughed up IRs 6000 million last year. The IT-savvy chief minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh Chandra Babu Naidu has successfully mobilized his state machinery to make use of information technology in various aspects particularly the power sector.
The power sector reforms in Andhra Pradesh is gaining pace since it unbundled the State Electricity Board into different entities like APGenco, APTransco and DisComs (like CPDC). Ever since the reforms, the system loss, which was staggering 38 percent in 1998 has come down to 23 percent in 2002 in the state. Further, the system loss in and around cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad has come down to around 12 percent. "The installed capacity of the A.P. alone is whopping 10,330 MW. The energy mix at present is 87 and 13 percent for thermal and hydro powers respectively," said P.V. Rao, director at APGenco. Apart from computerized meter reading, the state has used the IT in developing a vast central database of 5 million consumers of the twin cities. "One just needs to log on to our website using a password to see who is using how much power and who is paying how much and when. Any of our consumer can log on to this database to find out his payment statistics of last 18 months and plan his consumption pattern accordingly," said Prasad. One another positive spin of this central database has been its effectiveness in compelling VIPs to pay their dues. "We have freely given password of our website to media," said Prasad. Not surprising, therefore, is the fact that all municipal dues have been cleared of the last five years. "In fact, our Chief Minister is so particular about this that he frequently writes letter to municipal bodies and others to pay their dues on time or face the consequences," said Ram Mohan Rao, director at CPDC. "We have been making full use of IT in optimizing power sector," said Rao. The central database is so developed as to provide maximum information. The rich pool of information means that the mere study of the CPDC's database is adequate to project economic trends based on consumption patterns. The company is also using remote-metering to study high-value consumers like big hotels, industries and factories. "Earlier, when we got any information about power theft we used to make raids on particular factories. But when we reached the site, the guards of the factories used to dilly dally in opening the gates and use the time to alert their bosses inside who would instantly cover up their tactics. We were frustrated by this. However, now we have the facility of checking how much power is being consumed from our remote-metering facility. We can not only detect the quality and quantity of power we are delivering but we can also immediately catch up the theft," said Prasad. He added that the government can also use the database to detect revenue leakages. "Say, a particular steel industry is producing particular quantity of steel. It can be compared with the standard kwh energy that is required to produce certain quantity. If there is any discrepancy, the industry is indulging in some sort of trickery." Such has been the success of CPDC's remote-metering facilities that the theft of power by steel industries has come down considerably. "Due to this the price of steel has risen by Rs.7/kg to Rs.12/kg now." Digital Care The CPDC has created a separate Customer Care Center to cater to the complaints of consumers. Wholly computerized and linked to the Internet, the facility allows consumers to make their complaints and get results effectively. Complaints can be made from emails. Termed as E-Sewa, the facility offers a wide range of service to customers including fixing of problems, providing quality output and so on. "Even our CM can check the complaints from our customers by browsing online," said S. Sitaram Babu, Assistant General Manager at the center. This possibility has made the employees at the center even more aware of their responsibilities. "We normally address the complaints within 2 hours to 7 days depending upon the nature of the problem." The distribution facility of the whole city is digitized. The central facility displays which house is connected to which pole. The toll-free telephone facility is provided to customers to make their complaints. When somebody makes a complaint of no light, they can easily find out where the fault lies. And then there are mobile electricity ambulance vans ready in 47 different strategic places within the city. The van nearest to the origin of complaint is dispatched immediately to sort out the problem. The vans and its operators have been employed on contract of IRs 20,000 per van by the CPDC. Every morning T.V.S.N. Prasad quickly goes through the day's newspapers looking out for any stories on power distribution lest his CM sees it first and gives him a call asking for clarification. "It is due to the political commitment from the highest level that we are able to achieve this much," asserts the IAS officer who was handpicked by CM Naidu to head the CPDC. Naidu's PowerPoint displays to potential investors are legendary. Once he displayed PowerPoint presentation to Bill Gates inside the airplane when the latter visited AP four years ago. Gates was so impressed that he immediately decided to locate the head-office of Microsoft (India) in Hyderabad. Apart from Microsoft, IT giants like Oracle and Dell are also based in Hyderabad from where they conduct their whole operations in India. Lately, the Hyderabad fondly called Cyberabad is also wooing a lot of biotech companies. |
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