વાંચો ગુજરાતીમા(Read in Gujarati)ં: ચિદમ્બરમે કેમ ગુજરાતને પથદર્શક કહેવુ પડ્યું?

Ahmedabad, DeshGujarat

Congress lead UPA government’s finance minister shri P.Chidambaram has praised Gujarat’s agriculture power policy in his interview with Tehelka magazine. He said in this interview “Gujarat has shown us the way on how to fix power for agriculture” Here is a link for that full interview. A paragraph where Gujarat was mentioned is given above as a photo image.

So what is Gujarat’s agriculture power policy that can be a pathway for the entire nation as per what P. Chidambaram said? Answer of this question is very well defined by noted economist Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyer in his recent article dated 11th of May, 2008 in Times of India.

Read Gujarat related part of that article here in which Swaminathan wrote about uniqueness of Gujarat’s Agricultural power arena: “Competition between political parties has driven rural power rates towards zero. Chandrababu Naidu’s defeat in 2004 was widely ascribed to his charging farmers for power. Yet, Narendra Modi also charged farmers, cut off connections for non-payment, and yet won a big victory in 2007. Power reforms can win votes if properly designed.

Where power is free, it is viewed by State Electricity Boards (SEBs) as a political gimmick, not a commercial matter. So, they neglect rural distribution, supplying low-voltage power that burns out farmers’ pumps and SEB transformers (which are not replaced for months, leaving villages in darkness). Power is supplied erratically for a few hours, mostly at night. Hence, villages cannot develop manufacturing or service industries that need power in the day. So, both agriculture and non-farm activities remain caught in a low-productivity trap.

Gujarat’s Jyotigram has separate electric feeder lines for each village, a heavy-duty one for tubewells and a light-duty one for domestic use and small-scale manufacturing and services. This dual-feeder system requires high upfront investment. But it enables SEBs to ration power intelligently. Villages get power 24/7 for nonagricultural purposes, enhancing domestic and commercial possibilities. But tubewell power is rationed for eight hours, providing enough water for crops but saving aquifers from over-pumping. Villagers are willing to pay, and the Gujarat SEB is one of the few profitable ones.

Power supply should be adjusted for seasonal demand. It could be provided continuously in the 30-40 days of maximum moisture stress, but for only three-four hours at night on other days.

Power plants have idle capacity at night, so generating cost equals just fuel cost. Hence, even the low rural power rate in Gujarat looks economic to the SEB, which now views rural power as a potential profit centre, not a bottomless pit. Naturally, such an SEB will seek to maintain and expand rural power, while SEBs in free-power states will neglect it.

Although groundwater irrigates three-four times as much land as canals, SEBs typically have no agricultural orientation: they are attuned to industrial needs. Jyotigram shows how reforms can help power engineers develop an agricultural focus, and respond to farm needs.”