Parliamentary panel on energy to review the need for uniformity in tariff

The parliamentary standing committee on energy, reconstituted last month, will also look into the performance major schemes of the govt

For the year 2019-20, the parliamentary panel on energy has decided to look into delays in execution and completion of power projects by power sector companies. It will also “review” power tariff policy in the context of the “need for uniformity in tariff structure across the country”.

The parliamentary standing committee on energy, reconstituted last month, will also look into the performance of the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, the PM Saubhagya scheme and the “role and significance of UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) in financial turnaround of discoms”.

It will evaluate the “role of regulators in the electricity sector”, functioning of POSOCO (Power System Operation Corporation Limited) in grid management and the carbon footprint of power generation in India.

Other subjects it has selected to examine are – “contribution of Central Electricity Authority in the balanced development of electricity sector”, operations of load dispatch centres and power exchanges and performance of power plants of thermal and hydropower sectors. Janata Dal (United)’s Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh heads the committee.

All 24 department related parliamentary standing committees select subjects they will study for the year, make on the spot inspections over the year and ask stakeholders to appear before it. The committee on energy looks at the work of ministries of power and new and renewable energy.

In the functioning of the ministry of new and renewable energy, the committee has decided to look at grid connectivity, examine the action plan for achievement of 175 GW renewable energy target and probe reasons for lack of manufacturing base for renewable components and equipment as also financial constraints that the renewable energy sector faces.

The standing committee on agriculture and farmers’ welfare, headed by BJP’s P C Gaddigoudar, a fourth term Lok Sabha member from Karnataka’s Bagalkot, has decided to examine the functioning of agricultural credit system in the country, evaluate PM crop insurance scheme and look at production and availability of oil seeds and pulses in the country.

The standing committee on agriculture also looks at the functioning of the ministries of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying and food processing industries.