BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) on Tuesday raised serious concerns over efficiency, asset creation and outcomes of past public investments in the power sector.
Chairing the second day of the public hearing on OPTCL’s tariff application for 2026-27, OERC chairperson Pradeep Kumar Jena observed that despite nearly `30,000 crore invested by the Centre and the state over the years to strengthen power transmission and distribution infrastructure, the outcomes have fallen short of expectations.
He noted serious inconsistencies, including uneven asset creation across transmission and distribution companies, comparatively weak transmission planning in Odisha vis-à-vis other states and an acute shortage of skilled engineers in the power sector.
To address these systemic gaps, the Commission decided to undertake an outcome-based audit of government capital investments and also proposed setting up a dedicated power training institute on the lines of the National Power Training Institute (NPTI) to address skill gaps in the sector.
OPTCL CMD Bhaskar Jyoti Sharma told the Commission that at the existing tariff levels, the utility would face a revenue gap of about Rs 423 crore, necessitating the proposed hike.
The transmission utility has sought approval of an ARR of `1,490 crore to transmit 41,849.28 million units (MU) of power in 2026-27, proposing an average transmission charge of 35.61 paise per unit. This marks a sharp increase over the 25.50 paise per unit tariff approved for 2025-26, when the ARR stood at `1,024.60 crore. The utility has also proposed a transmission loss of 3.05 per cent, marginally higher than the 3 per cent approved last year.
Raising objections, energy analyst Anand Mahapatra said that OPTCL’s transmission loss has been pegged at 3 per cent for the past five to six years, while many states have limited it to 2.5 per cent. He urged the Commission to cap transmission loss at 2.6 per cent and reject the tariff hike, contending that GRIDCO’s higher transmission estimates could eliminate the need for any increase.
Consumer Federation president Ramesh Satapathy criticised alleged misuse of public funds, stating that the transmission system has weakened, with several towers and lines becoming obsolete and requiring urgent reconstruction.
The Commission-appointed consumer counsel, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, analysed the tariff proposal from a consumer’s perspective. In all, 18 objectors, along with representatives of the state Energy department, placed their views before the Commission.