No Modi magic behind surplus power in Gujarat

The transformation of Gujarat from a power deficit state to one having surplus power is considered as one of its biggest achievements by the Narendra Modi government. However, the fact is that electricity generated by government owned units has come down in past few years, and it is the private sector that is driving most of the power generation in the state.

A closer look at figures provided by the state government shows that instead of having gone up, as the state government has made everyone to believe, electricity produced by its power generation arm, Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL) has gone down in recent years.

Out of total power generation of 78,600 Million Units (MUs) in the state in 2011-12, GSECL accounted for around 28,000 MUs. In 2010-11, total power generation was 71,250 MUs, of which GSECL accounted for 27,762 MUs.

A rewind to 2005-06, when state’s power generation was 59,000 MUs, shows that GSECL had generated 27,130 MUs of power, i.e. just marginally lower than what it is generating now.

Even as GSECL’s power generation stagnated between 27,000 MUs to 29,000 MUs from 2005-06 to 2011-12, electricity produced by independent power producers (IPPs) almost doubled in the six-year period. Gurdeep Singh, managing director, GSECL, attributed gas shortage, rise in coal prices, capacity de-ration at old plants, and power purchase agreements with IPPs as some of the reasons that had affected power generation of
the utility.