WBSEB reports positive bottomline

Kolkata, Jun 17 (UNI) The West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) has earned a net profit after years of losses.

The board's bottom line turned positive with a profit of Rs 92 crore in 2005-06 as against 2004-05's net loss of Rs 258 crore, despite generating a cash surplus of Rs 289 crore.

''The WBSEB has turned around with a commercial profit of Rs 92 crore in 2005-06. Revenues have gone up from Rs 4,800 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 5,294 crore in 2005-06,'' state power secretary Sunil Mitra said.

A significant portion of the revenue is from trading of power. An agreement was inked with Power Trading Corporation for trading of power, the power secretary said.

''Revenue from trading will help the board meet a portion of expenses on restructuring and for cross-subsidising poor customers,'' Mitra said.

The state will complete the process of reaching out to power-starved villages by March 2007, he said.

''We now have around 5,000 under-electrified mouzas. They will be covered by the end of the current financal year,'' he said.

In 2006-07, the state will add 1600 mw, and another 3,500 mw in the next five years.

Mitra said while the board has enough technical expertise, it lacks management capabilities, and needs to learn about the best practices of other states.

He said in the renewable energy resources front, the state is now generating 22 mw of power from rice husk, which has helped it earn carbon credit points.

UNI TJP KK RD 1141