Several power utilities were
commended for outstanding
performance for the years 2009-10
and 2010-11. Uttar Gujarat Vij
Company Ltd (UGVCL) has been
awarded Gold Shield for the year 2010-
11 and Gujarat Energy Transmission
Corporation Ltd (GETCO) was
bestowed the Gold Shield for 2009-10.
Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd
(MGVCL) was awarded the Bronze
Shield for the year 2009-10. The awards
were given away by Union power
minister Sushilkumar Shinde at a
function in New Delhi.
The Gujarat experience clearly shows
what strong political will to reform the
electricity sector can achieve. In May
2003, the Gujarat government passed
the Gujarat Electricity Industry
(Reform and Reorganization) Act,
which divided the GSEB into a holding
company, a power generation company,
a power transmission company and
four distribution companies. This
enabled accountability at every level,
better management and more efficient
operations, a release from the Gujarat
government noted.
Gujarat Energy Transmission
Corporation was awarded the Gold
Shield for early completion of 220/66kV
Bhat substation near Changodar,
Ahmedabad, in FY10. GETCO
completed the project in 18 months
against the standard time of 24 months.
The 220kV EHV substation has been a
vital power supply pooling sub-station
for the industries to avail reliable and
quality power supply. The transformer
capacity of this substation is being
enhanced to 300 MVA looking into the
load growth of industries.
Uttar Gujarat Vij Company
Limited (UGVCL) and Madhya
Gujarat Vij Company Limited
(MGVCL) have been awarded Gold
and Bonze Shield respectively under
the category "Performance of
Distribution Companies".
Gujarat has been able to achieve the
growth with a mix of steps that have
both commercial and social overtones,
with stress on credible implementation
and realizing rational user charges. The
political will along with the
turnaround strategy has produced the
expected benefits.
When Narendra Modi took over as
Chief Minister in 2001, he found the
state's power situation grim. The
Gujarat State Electricity Board, or
GSEB, had posted a loss of Rs 2,246
crore for 2000-01. Since then, Shri
Modi focused on assured round-theclock
quality power supply to each
household for faster socio-economic
development. With assured
availability of quality power, people
are seeking out more opportunities
and improving their skills to accelerate
their socio-economic development,
the release added.