Mumbai, May 31 : Clamping down on the menace of illegal power connections, Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited detected 26.21 million units of power thefts worth an estimated Rs 46.04 crore in the city last year, an official spokesperson said on Friday.

In the financial year 2023-2024, the company lodged 974 FIRs for power thefts, compared to the 778 FIRs registered in the previous fiscal (2022-2023). Power theft is a non-bailable offence that attracts a stringent fine/jail term of three years for the offenders.

During multiple raids carried out last year, the company seized 60.5 tonnes of illegal wires and the actions resulted in bringing down the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses by 0.46 per cent - from 5.93 per cent (2022-2023) to a commendable 5.47 per cent (2023-2024), the official said.

This has placed Adani Electricity with the lowest AT&C losses among all Discoms nationwide, given its extensive power network and diverse consumer base, the official added.

Among the major power thieves caught last year was Jaini Traders in Kurar village, Malad East, for illegally using a three-phase direct supply that led to theft worth Rs 1.33 crore. The case was probed by the Kandivali police station in June 2023.

In July 2023, the company's vigilance teams caught Crohast Plastic Moulding Mfg. Ltd in Andheri for using an illegal power connection worth Rs 1.09 crore, and the matter was probed by the Kherwadi police station.

The third case was lodged by Kandivali police station in December 2023 when the Kinny Farmhouse and Resort in Malad West was caught using an illegal power connection worth Rs 1.04 crore.

Adani Electricity teams, along with the concerned police authorities, conduct regular mass raids, apprehend the offenders, and confiscate the equipment used for power theft.

The incidents of power theft are rampant in high-demand areas like slum clusters, where new network development is challenging due to space constraints, while overload of the existing infrastructure increases maintenance costs due to more frequent cable and transformer failures.

'Power theft unfairly burdens the honest, paying consumers, and we at Adani Electricity are committed to eliminating the menace of power theft to safeguard the interests of our customers. We shall intensify the efforts in specific areas to further reduce AT&C losses this year,' said the spokesperson.

/IANS