The Gujarat government will review the power purchase agreements it had signed with various private electricity producers in the state and sign new contracts on November 30, power minister Saurabh Patel said.

The move to take a re-look at the power purchase agreements would help the cash-strapped Gujarat Electricity Board as the utility's major cash outgo is in purchasing power from the private players at Rs 3.59 a unit.

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Addressing the officials of the GEB from the south Gujarat region during a visit to the Uttran gas-based power plant, about 13 kms north of Surat city, the minister said the 20-year PPAs were signed in 1994-95.

The government has initiated several measures to bring the GEB back to profit, he said.

Steps have already been taken to cut down the transmission and distribution losses, he said.

Last year, T&D losses were in the range of Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,800 crore (Rs 15-Rs 18 billion), while in the past five years, the losses have mounted to Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion), he said. The government has also chalked out plans to launch the second round of its drive against power theft.

The second drive, to be taken up after Diwali, would be much more aggressive, the minister said.

"We are reviewing GEB revenue figures on a day-to-day basis and a monitoring system has also been set up," Patel said.

The drive against power theft for the past seven months would translate into revenue of Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion) for the GEB, he said.

The GEB feeder losses would also be cut down by ten per cent from the present 30 per cent to 20 per cent, he said.

"The target is to bring the GEB out of the red by March 31," the minister said.

Feeders, which account for a high percentage of power loss, were being identified and GEB teams throughout the state were checking power meters, he said.

Memorandums of understanding for projects worth Rs. 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) were signed in the power sector alone during the 'Vibrant Gujarat' investors' summit, he said.

This would see an addition of 3,500 mw in the next five years, Patel said.

Patel had a detailed discussion with GEB chief engineer (south Gujarat) P R Chaudhary and chief engineer of Uttran Power Plant B P Joshi on enhancing the capacity of the plant from the present 135 mw to 300 mw.