[Assam] Ravider Singh as seen in Assamnet- reposted-donot miss

Wed Apr 4 09:52:17 EDT 2007

Corporate Mantra-Learning To Loot; 10xSEZ Coming
 { Ram:Is this what Engineer Hilal Uddin meant"The profiteering lust of a handful" }

Your defense of corporate India is always weak. It is amusing to read Corporate “Erosion Of Knowledge” of how to serve consumers. In a world where 2-3 friends could create $150b Company in 7-8 years (goggle), half of market cap of entire corporate India (excluding FII and Indian Financial Institution Holdings). Obviously no one has prevented them from developing any technology in 2-5 generations. Corporate India with genes of “Loot” is never short of Loot Ideas. Indian universities produce graduates 0.5 million S&T personnel every year, and good number of management and commerce graduates. Are they not good enough to install retail stores? In fact Corporate India with genes of Loot was first in the world to adopt technology to make Electrical meters run fast as soon as technology was available. 

When you have an idiots as head government you are only promoting mediocre. 

Bank loans and investment in industries exceed $400b and yet Corporate India has not graduated to a level it can install retail outlets operational for 3-4 generations in USA without multinationals aid and collaboration. 

Even as 14,000 acres Nandigram oozed with blood of innocent farmers, Corporate India was secretly planting ideas in Manmohan Singh’s dumb brain to sell 17,00,000 acres of Mo Defence vacant lands to Corporate for Multinational retail and SEZs. 

When Indira Gandhi decided to nationalize private banks in 1969 she also launched a campaign to inform people through schools about GOI objectives. The money with private banks was not used for the promotion of technology, innovation and creating globally competitive companies but for hoarding of food grains and all kinds of speculative activities. Farmers were at the mercy of moneylenders. 

When in developed countries interest rate charged was under 5% in India Private Banks charged over 25% interest. Private Banks largely promoted own family businesses. 

But it was not long before Nationalized Banks were tamed and corrupted to serve family run corporate.  

Most of the corporate were adulteration specialist and hoarding experts. When global corporations earned 5% profit on revenue, just by hoarding commodities and creating artificial shortages and adulterating cheaper products in high value commodities a lot more money could be made. Under declaring of sales was another easy way to cheat shareholders and avoid taxes. 

So long GOI promoting Corporate India through illegal and corrupt means continues they will learn to compete in the global market. 

Romans would starve Wild Lions for 4-5 days before their release in the arena to combat warriors. India corporate Lions are hand raised by GOI for generations fed on choicest and tenderest meats like SEZ will never learn to fight until they are  released in wild and fight for every bite of meat. 

Unless and until GOI introduce stringent standards, stiff competition and high taxes, Corporate India will not learn to hunt for new markets in global world. 

But the corrupt and incompetent GOI is interested in exploiting poor and middle class and enriches Corporate India illegally and corruptly.  

Ravinder Singh April03, 2007
Progressindia2007 at yahoo.com 

"Sanjay Jadhav" sanjayjadhav1999 at yahoo.co.in-----
Dear Ravinder Singh ji,

1.      After 1955, one by one all private distribution Companies were taken over by sarkari boards. Now after 52 years and 2 generations, there is complete erosion of business knowledge of selling electricity in private sector. The Dabhol/ Enron failure is as much result of ignorance as political corruption. On the other hand government was genuinely interested to free the people from power of money. This genuine intention is visible in all kind of acts, statutes, policies that encompass the social, economic, industrial sphere of society. For the sake of example outside electricity, I will like to cite labours laws (payment of bonus act, payment of gratuity act, industrial relations act, etc.) nationalizations acts (life insurance, general insurance, coal Companies, banks nationalizations, host of textiles mills), restrictive statutes (FERA, MRTP, licensing). In a nutshell, there was a pattern of socialistic thinking and inclination in the period 1950s to 70s. This was culmination of lack of trust about private enterprises and private capital. Every one of us would agree that potential abuse of greed should be considered in design legal framework, policies. However discarding the private entrepreneurship and finance from economic sphere of society tantamount to cutting one’s (country’s) own leg. Unfortunately it took another 30 years to realize that our beliefs, ideas, dogmas were wrong right from beginning. 

After 55 years of hard-work in unlearning, if we chose to learn it again, the cost of learning has to be paid by society. As regulators are learning, distribution licensees are also learning. There are many states such as UP, MP, Rajasthan, Karnataka, who do not widen electrification for lack of investible funds or inability to underwrite the revenue losses. Delhi is the only state for which Ministry of Home Affairs underwrites all the losses in infrastructure and supply of electricity. All the houses are electrified, despite knowledge that higher electrification leads to higher losses. Therefore Delhi is best placed to pay the cost of learning for society. The preference that mistakes should not happen by private Companies at all, is very tall expectation. All the mistakes of commission and omission are not conspiracies and mischief. 

2.      Response to “unprecedented loot of legal consumers who were paying their bills regularly” – In NCR, Delhi has lowest tariff as shown below.

Thus the phrase “unprecedented loot” needs qualification, though not by grace of distribution licensees. Adjectives are good for literature, journalists and political sloganeering, but not good for strategic planning. Conspiracy theory and corruption sells very well in journalism and journalist can boast of fearless warrior taking on Goliath. But Journalists do not make businessmen and nor the mindset of Journalist fit for strategic planning. 

1.      Response to “AT&C losses were just 30% to 32%” – Before privatization Delhi was most power stealing state. Certainly your advocacy for thieves is misdirected. No states, not even states those predominant village population, such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, AP had this kind of T&D losses. Part of the losses are off course due to poor T&D network, acutely in need of investment. If we prefer not to privatize, Government can provide money, but will, ability and competence was missing in DVB to capital investment. Considering that profit and loss accounts were finalized but unaudited since 1990-91 to 1999-00 till the time of privatization, debase your confidence on lower T&D loss. 

Commercial losses in annual accounts were above 20% at the time of privatization. Entire central plan assistance was diverted for paying liability of DVB for payment of bill Badarpur thermal power station. Accumulated liability of DESU ( period before 1997) was Rs. 12953 Cr. The DVB period liability from 1997 to March 2001 was Rs. 10184, as large as revenue of the board in 4 years. Accepting the fact that some amount could be taken for capital investment and working capital, that shows that 50 % AT&C loss is not preposterous number. 

2.      “Let me explain the cost of installing a three-phase electronics meter to a distribution transformer or any industrial or domestic consumer of 50 KW load is identical. So it required Rs.5 crores maximum to install new meters on all transformers.” – Domestic meters are single phase till 4 kVA connected load. Above 4 kVA to 20 kVA domestic, commercial connection needs 3 phase supply and meter is 3 times more expensive. Distribution transformer needs tele-metering and NDPL/ BRPL/ BYPL will not install it without tele-metering. The energy meter on distribution transformer & industrial (above 20 kVA) has LT Current Transformer. Therefore cost is many times more. 

3.      You feel that overcharging by NDPL/ BRPL and BYPL is big problem, as can be seen from your repeated hammering on the same issue. However in Indian conditions overcharging is not so important problem as rural electrification, capacity shortage, ability of electricity industry to support the productivity of economy. Raising tariff is not bad, if it supports productivity of economy of state. In Mumbai that is already visible.

It is very easy not to invest and trumpet achievement of politically correct lower tariff. In fact many states actually had little increase in tariff for last decade and half, but at the same time poor capital investment and no Maintenance. Under-investment minimizes interest liability, depreciation and return. If government compel sarkari Companies not to claim even minimum RoCB, there is further opportunity to hold the tariff. WB (de-industrialized state) and Orissa (un-industrialized state) found new trick to sell bulk supply to other states at very high price and not to increase tariff upto 5 years. Both the states have 20% electrification in villages. It is very trivial matter that remaining population may be electrified in next 200 years. It is known that fresh investment in generation and distribution increases tariff, more than obtaining higher generation from existing assets or selling more power to existing consumers. But rise in tariff is not a loot and nor a conspiracy. The numbers and statistics ought to be read with inquisition, rationality, proper cause & effect relationship. 

4.      Has Delhi really made losses by providing loan to DTL for transition support? Some scholars have stated that government has actually reduced the liability if we consider span of 5 years. I find in DERC tariff Orders on ARR of DTL that Government of Delhi support to DTL is very less than the astronomical figures in initial years. On this issue I will gather data and come back separately. 

Sanjay Jadhav
02.04.2007

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