(Pic: The Voice of Malegaon)
On Tuesday, the Malegaon Power Supply Limited (MPSL)’s Chief Operating Officer Prem Singh broke his silence on allegations that the Distribution Franchisee (DF) of the MSEDCL was not spending enough money on building new infrastructure and enhancing the existing supply networks.
As per the Distribution Franchise (DF) agreement inked between the MSEDCL and the MPSL, it is incumbent upon the latter to spend Rs 20 crore every year to improve the overall electricity scenario in the town.
However, the MPSL chief has refuted these charges in strong terms. “We had a target of spending Rs 60 crore between March 2020 and March 2023 during three years. So far, we have been able to spend Rs 47 crore on building new infrastructure and enhancing supply networks. This means there is a shortfall of just Rs 13 crore. We expect to bridge this gap in a short period of time,” Singh told The Voice of Malegaon.
The MPSL has been pushing hard to put in place two more Sub-Stations but due to non-availability of space the DF of MSEDCL has not been able to convert this proposal into reality.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the prevailing situation in its aftermath in a way slowed our expenditure plans, Prem Singh, COO, MPSL
“MSEDCL was supposed to give us spaces for building two Sub-Stations. One was being planned at Khadki Road. But so far the state entity has not given us the required space,” Singh said.
MPSL, a subsidiary of the Kolkata-based CESC Ltd, a power distribution arm of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, has been looking for space to build these two Sub-Stations for quiet some time now.
“We have now shelved the Khadki Road Sub-Station plan due to non-availability of space. We are now working to build a Sub-Station adjacent to the Ayesha Nagar Sub-Station at a cost of Rs 6 – 7 crore,” Singh informed. The cost of building both the Sub-Stations has been pegged at Rs 12 – 13 crore.
Around Rs 6 – 7 crore was needed to build a Sub-Station. The proposed Sub-Station which will be coming on the premises of the Ayesha Nagar Sub-Station will be of a capacity of 33×11 KV and 20 MVA. “Apart from this, we are also looking into the feasibility of building a second Sub-Station on Agra Road. We are working on these plans on a priority basis,” Singh said.
