Power for all in Odisha by 2019

The state energy department has drawn up an ambitious plan to provide power to all by 2019 while trimming the aggregate technical & commercial (AT&C) loss to 26 per cent by then, down from the current level of 38.18 per cent.

"Our aim is to provide 24x7 quality and uninterrupted power to all villages and hamlets in the state by 2019. Presently, there are 5.8 million power consumers in the state but by 2019, the consumer base is poised to go up to 9.7 million by then. The peak power demand is also projected to rise to 5,550 Mw by 2019 from 3,900 Mw now," said energy minister Pranab Prakash Das after a review meeting of the department by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

Odisha added 3.7 million electricity consumers in the past five years under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), Biju Gram Jyoti Yojana (BGVY) and Biju Saharanchal Vidyutikaran Yojana (BSVY).

The average annual growth rate of electricity consumers in the state stood at 8.34 per cent during 2000-2010 and 19.52 per cent in 2010-15. In the 2015-20 period, the growth rate is tipped to be 16.27 per cent.

Similarly, energy demand is projected to increase at the rate of 9.86 per cent during 2015-20, the highest in the past two decades.

As on March 31, 2015, 43,753 villages have been electrified, representing 92 per cent of the total number of villages at 47,677 (as per 2011 census). Of the 82,014 hamlets in the state, 66 per cent or 54,061 have been electrified by the end of March this year. Out of the total of 9.6 million domestic households mentioned in the 2011 census, 5.36 are electrified by this period, meaning a success rate of 57 per cent.