Bhuj:  WITH annual earning of over Rs 84 crore, the Kutch circle now tops among all circles of the Pashchim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL) comprising Kutch and Saurashtra in revenue.

C M Joshi, who took over as new chief of Kutch Circle last week, says now his priority would be to reduce transmission losses. “This unprecedented rise in the revenue is the post-quake phenomenon as many new industries were set up in the border district due to tax holiday. The tax-related industrialisation is over, but now we see new demand for power from the already functional industries,’’ Joshi said.

He said the current transmission losses were around 22 per cent which his circle planned to reduce to 15 per cent. When he was heading the Anjar division, he took its revenue from Rs 16.5 crore in 2004 to Rs 51 crore in September 2006.

His work of restoring power supply in the 1998 mega cyclone and 2001 devastating earthquake was praised by the department and the government. He said reliability of power and improving productivity of lower staff were his other priority. “When you have good revenue earning from your industrial clients, you must give them quality and uninterrupted power supply. We are doing our best even though we face peculiar problem no other area of the State did. The border district is huge ... And here the distance between one feeder to the next in Khadir and Rapar is just 80 km. The salanity deteriorates the condition of conductor and the scanty rainfall aggravates the problem more,’’ he said.

Courtesy: Ahmedabad Newsline - Ahmedabad,India