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The benefits of lower prices accrued through the e-bidding of power procurement will be extended to the medium- and long-term procurement as well, according to the government. The details of short-term procurement through the Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price (DEEP) e-bidding portal were unveiled on Sunday.

“The process has resulted in substantial savings as the prices discovered through e-bidding are significantly lower than the prices at which power was procured during the similar period in the last year,” Power Secretary P.K. Pujari said.

According to a statement issued by the Power Ministry, “the scope of this portal shall be further expanded soon to cover medium-term and long-term procurement of power.”

State governments

Four entities participated in the e-bid—the state governments of Kerala, Uttarakhand, and Bihar, and private sector company Torrent Power.

For Kerala, the lowest power price for May in slot of the day was Rs.3.14 per unit compared with the Rs.4.7 per unit price at which the state procured short-term power last year, according to the statement.

Uttarakhand saw a price of Rs.2.59 per unit for power for July on a round-the-clock basis through a reverse auction in the e-bidding process. Last year, the lowest price at which the state’s distribution companies (discoms) purchased power in July was Rs.3.41 per unit.

Bihar got the lowest price of Rs.3.08 per unit for slot of the day for July. The state’s discoms did not buy any power during the last two years.

Torrent Power

The e-bidding process of Torrent Power saw a lowest price of Rs.2.95 per unit in slot of the day for May-June.

“These lower prices discovered through reverse auction in e-bidding process are expected to result in overall reduction of cost of procurement of power in the states and greater transparency in the auction process benefiting the ultimate consumers,” according to the statement from Crisil.

The e-bidding portal was inaugurated by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal in April.

Source: The Hindu