AP Transco to invest Rs 13k-cr to strengthen network

Power Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (AP Transco) on June 14 said it will invest Rs 13,170 crore over the next five years to strengthen its Extra High Voltage Transmission Network and increase power availability in the state.

Of the total planned investment of Rs 13,170 crore, Rs 8,521 crore would go into installation of electrical substations of 132 kV, 220 kV and 400 kV capacity by 2019, AP Transco's Chairman and Managing Director K Vijayanand said while addressing a press conference here to announce the company's financial results for 2015-16.

"From 10.6 percent (22 million units per day) power deficit in June 2014 (when the state was bifurcated), we are now at zero (deficit) level.

"The power utilities are now in a comfortable position to even export power to other deficit states. We are making all efforts to supply power at international standards with almost zero interruptions per consumer," the Transco CMD said.

Strengthening of transmission network is aimed at achieving international standards and also further reduce the transmission losses to around 5 percent, he added.

"The AP power sector has maintained an overall transmission and distribution loss level of 10.2 percent in 2015-16, which is the lowest in the country.

"Transmission losses in Transco alone were reduced to 3.37 percent while in the distribution network they were reduced to 7.33 percent.

"Transco and the two power distribution companies are now working out modalities to achieve a loss level of 2.5 and 5.5 percent respectively in 2016-17 by adopting latest initiatives and global technologies," he added.

For fiscal 2015-16, the company earned a profit after tax of Rs 113 crore as against Rs 95 crore the previous year despite a fall in revenue.

"Our total revenue fell to Rs 1,179.30 crore in 2015-16 compared to Rs 1,248.29 crore in the previous year.

"Expenditure too dropped to Rs 1,127.60 crore from Rs 1,247.35 crore. But the profit has increased due to reduction in capitalisation and other expenditure," he elaborated.

AP Transco's capital expenditure, however, saw a significant jump from Rs 865.83 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 1,801.87 crore. "We have spent more on power transmission and evacuation works in the last fiscal as part of the system improvements," Vijayanand pointed out.