MSEB would source nearly Rs 100 crore from PFC to carry out metering in urban areas. MSEB officials would hold meeting with the visiting PFC officials to work out modalities of loan disbursement on September 30.

MSEB would try to get around Rs 200 crore from the REC for the installation of meters in rural areas which have been facing irregular power supply. At present, MSEB had to resort to load sheding at least four days a week mostly in rural and semi urban areas following peak demand shortage and technical losses.

MSEB sources told The Financial Express that it was committed to going in for 100 per cent metering as decided at the recent meet convened by the Union ministry of power. Simultaneously, MSEB has also been directed by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) for metered power supply to all 1.20 crore consumers especially agricultural consumers and powerlooms.

In the first phase, MSEB will go in for metering of all the sub-stations up to 11 KV outgoing feeders and all the high tension consumers by March 2001.

The second phase which would include all consumers would have to be completed by December 2001.

The Union power ministry has asked for compulsory metering of all new electricity connections as also connections to the agricultural sector exceeding 10 horse power. The ministry also wanted that all electric supplies to be metered in a phase manner and time of the day metering to be introduced for big power consumers for better load management. Furthermore, the Union ministry has directed MSEB to introduce compulsory annual energy audit of large consumers with power consumption of 1,000 KVA. Such audits would be binding in order to improve commercial viability of state power sector, reduce technical losses and eliminate commercial losses.

MSEB had come under severe criticism from the MERC for 31.5 per cent transmission and distribution losses. MERC had already asked the loss making MSEB to cut these losses by 5 per cent in the current fiscal.

The union ministry of power and MERC have said that the alarming proportion of technical and commercial losses of MSEB were mainly due to unmetered connections, unauthorised drawls and rampant theft of power.