The government has overhauled the country’s power sector in the last eight years, as a result of which the total availability of electricity in rural areas of the country has increased from an average of 12.5 hours at present to 22.5 hours. Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh has said.
He was speaking while chairing a review planning and monitoring (RPM) meeting with states and state power utilities here on July 10 and 11.
He said 185 GW capacity has been added in this period, turning the country from power shortage to power surplus, and the government has connected the entire country to an integrated grid capable of transferring 112,000 MW from one corner to another.
In addition, the government has strengthened the distribution system under DDUGJY and IPDS as well as Saubhagya schemes; constructed over 2,900 substations, upgraded over 3,900 substations, added 8,50,000 CKT km of HT and LT lines, 750,000 transformers and 112,000 CKT kilometres of agricultural feeders.
“As a result of all this, the availability of electricity in rural areas has increased from 12:30 hrs in 2014 to 22:30 hrs today ;; While the national average availability in urban areas is 23:30. Together we have made it that the power sector is viable. Today, all existing power purchase dues are paid on time, while legacy dues have come down from Rs 139,747 crore to Rs 69,957 crore,” , he said.
He also said that the national gross technical and commercial (AT&C) deficit has come down from 22 per cent to 16.5 per cent and the ACS-ARR gap has come down from 69 paise per unit to 15 paise per unit.
This is because most of the state discoms have started implementing the reform measures prescribed by the Power Ministry under various initiatives such as the Revised Distribution Area Scheme (RDSS),, Additional Prudential Norms and Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) Rules, 2022.
During the meeting, Singh advised all states to follow the multi-year tariff regime and undertake prepaid smart metering in government offices on a priority basis to address the issue of outstanding government departments.
Minister of State for Power Krishan Pal Gurjar, Secretary (Power), Government of India, Additional Chief Secretary, Secretary, Principal Secretary (Power/Energy) of States, Chairman and , Managing Directors of State Power Utilities and others were present in the meeting. Officers of CPSE.
