Tarun Karthick
Campbell Bay, 20 July 2021
Electricity Department of Andaman and Nicobar Islands spent ₹633.7411 Crores in procuring goods and services in the financial year 2020-21. In 2019-20 the department had spent ₹588.7442 Crores for procuring goods and services.
In the year 2020-21 the department procured High Speed Diesel and Lubricating Oil worth ₹562.8059461 Crores from Indian Oil Corporation Limited.
The procurement of High Speed Diesel and Lubricating Oil by the department in 2019-20 stood at ₹532.3671855 Crores.
Majority of the money spent by the department for procurement of goods and services goes towards procuring HSD and Lube Oil.
The estimated population of Andaman and Nicobar Islands as per the figures mentioned in the State Portal was 4,34,192 in 2019. Electricity Department spent ₹14595.87 for every person residing in Andaman and Nicobar Islands towards procurement of goods and services in 2020-21 (Calculated by assuming the population of the Islands as 4,34,192).
Electricity Department tops the list of the highest spenders on procurement of goods and services by various departments of Andaman and Nicobar Administration.
A major chunk of public money is spent on procuring High Speed Diesel for producing electricity in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Govt. of India has set a target of installing 175 GW of renewable energy capacity in the country by end of 2022, which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro-power.
Japan in the first-ever official development assistance project in Andaman and Nicobar Islands has announced grant aid worth ¥4.02 billion which when converted to INR in today’s exchange rate stands at ₹274.79 Crores. According to National Media reports the grant would be used to procure 15MWh batteries as well as power system stabilisers to allow better utilisation of solar power in South Andaman.
Installing renewable energy capacity in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is the only way to reduce expenditure in the power sector.