24x7 power supply for all, by March 2019: Power Minister
Every Indian household, in both urban and rural areas, will have a 24x7 supply of electricity by March 2019, said Power Minister RK Singh. He urged his state counterparts to reduce the total electricity distribution losses (aggregate technical and commercial) to 15% to ensure efficiency and uninterrupted power supply. Also, penalties would be levied against DISCOMs (distribution companies) for load-shedding after Mar'19. Read more!
A new power ecosystem: Singh
Conference of States' Power Ministers
Inaugurating the conference of "Ministers for Power and New & Renewable Energy of States and Union Territories", RK Singh said the Centre would bring four-crore additional electricity subscribers, under the Saubhagya Yojana. He said with the increase in the number of consumers, supplies would rise, and eventually, leakages would increase. He added, "We cannot continue to set off these losses using taxpayers' money."
Implementation of Saubhagya Yojana
On the Saubhagya Scheme, Singh said: "We are going to do (provide electricity to four-crore households) it by December 2018. We have provided over Rs. 90,000-crore from 9th Five Year Plan onwards to strengthen the system in states. We are providing funds under various schemes."
Implement Saubhagya Yojana for electricity connections: Singh tells states
Capping the total losses to 15%, the Power Minister noted that 16-17 states incur distribution losses of over 15%. Singh also said that states are yet to submit their proposals under Saubhagya Yojana for which the Centre has allocated Rs. 16,320crore. States must send their proposals to seek funds. He also asked his counterparts to roll-out the scheme in their respective states by Dec'18.
Centre's hydropower policy to revive stranded projects
Speaking about renewable energy, the Minister said that clean energy would "edge out" fossil fuels, especially petroleum, which would be strategically better for India, considering the huge imports of fossil fuels. He also said the Modi-led government's hydropower policy aims to revive the stranded projects. Singh assured the States' Power Ministers that they would push hydropower, a renewable energy source, to replace thermal power.
