400 KV substation lying idle at Hinjewadi IT Park for 7 years

Pune

At a time when the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) is putting pressure on consumers to pay electricity bills on time, its sister concern Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (MSETCL or MahaTransco) has been found to have wasted consumer money by not utilising a 400 kilovolt substation that was installed seven years ago at Hinjewadi IT Park.

A Right to Information (RTI) query by city-based civic activist Vivek Velankar has found that the said substation – constructed at Hinjewadi IT Park in 2016 by MahaTransco to provide uninterrupted electricity supply to the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park in Hinjewadi – has not been used ever since. Velankar also found that MahaTransco has now initiated the process to relocate the substation’s interconnecting transformer (ICT)-1 to Jejuri substation and ICT-2 to Kalwa substation.

“The substation is lying unused since the last seven years. The warranty and guaranty period of the three-power transformer has expired. I got to know that the substation was not used as the cable to transmit the power from the substation to different areas was not laid down,” Velankar said.

Seven years ago in 2016, MahaTransco had installed a three- 167 Mega Volt Ampere (MVA) power transformer and spent a whopping Rs89 crores on the same.

Calling the exercise a wastage of public money, Velankar said, “I think this is only one of the instances that has come to light. We don’t know how many such substations are lying unused across the state. It is a wastage of public money. I wrote a letter to the state government to inquire into the matter and initiated an inquiry against the concerned officials.”

“While the MSEDCL is harassing consumers for not paying electricity bills on time, its sister company is wasting consumers’ money,” he alleged.

Whereas Vittal Bhujbal, executive engineer, Extra High Voltage (EHV) Installation, Testing and Commissioning and Maintenance division, Pune, said, “We have started 220 kV lines under this substation. Although we have relocated the ICTs to the Jejuri and Kalwa substations, the 220 KV part is operational. We will initiate the process of purchasing new ICTs to run the 400 KV substation. There is need for a 400kv substation in phase 3 of Hinjewadi IT Park. Hence, we had set up the substation.”

“At present, there are two substations in two phases. Besides that, we will initiate the process to run this substation which will help supply power to the Jejuri and Chinchwad areas,” Bhujbal said.

Another senior official on condition of anonymity said, “Due to unavailability of agency, the substation was not used. Therefore, we relocated the two ICTs.”