THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : When Biju Prabhakar, the newly appointed chairman and managing director of KSEB, is expected to take over his new assignment on Wednesday, a daunting task lies ahead for him to turn the tables in favour of the cash-strapped power entity.
If the former CMD of KSRTC was at loggerheads over policy issues with Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar after he took the mantle from Antony Raju, the LDF government was happy with the way he brought in significant changes there which include increasing the daily income grossing more than Rs 9 crore.
He told TNIE that he will be taking over his new role on Wednesday. While a large section of KSEB officials, including trade unions, have welcomed the state government’s decision to bring in Biju Prabhakar, they say it’s not going to be an easy walkover for him. Ever since N S Pillai retired as CMD in July 2021, the board saw B Ashok and later Dr Rajan Khobragade taking over the reins which have not been rosy for the board and also for the power sector in the state.
If 1998 batch IAS official Ashok ran into rough weather with the KSEB trade unions which saw them staging indefinite protests in front of Vydyuthi Bhavan, under the tenure of Khobragade, the cancellation of long-term Power Purchase Agreement by the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission saw the board being pushed into financial doldrums.
A senior board official told TNIE that until two years ago, there was an operational profit of Rs 1,200 crore for KSEB. “For the past three years, the board has been facing a loss of Rs 4,000 crore. If the new CMD is able to reinstate the cancelled PPAs by initiating talks with power companies, it will be a huge fillip to the board and the state government alike. Apart from the financial crisis, another daunting task before Biju Prabhakar is to address the dearth of field staff in its 776 section offices across the state,” said a senior board official.
A major issue being faced by the KSEB is its inability to generate internal electricity. Currently, the board is able to generate only less than 30% of the actual demand. So if the much-delayed Pallivasal hydroelectric project and Bhoothathankettu which was supposed to be commissioned in 2017 are expedited, it is expected to keep the new CMD in good stead over his predecessors.