Government committed to ensure 24x7 power for all; coal based power increased by 21.4%

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said that the government is committed to provide 24x7 power supply to every household in the country.

Piyush Goyal, who presented the report card of 100 days of his ministry, at a press conference here today sought the cooperation of various state governments in order to achieve this goal.He expressed happiness that in the last three months, the coal- based power production has increased by 21.4 percent

The Minister highlighted how with the lack of inter-regional transmission lines in the country, states with surplus power such as Gujarat and Chhattisgarh were not able to transmit it to Southern and North-Eastern states.

He pointed that the government has over the last 100 days held detailed consultations and deliberations with 18 states along with major stakeholders such as related Ministries (Environment and Forests, Commerce, Railways, Finance, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Steel, Mines etc.), financial institutions, industry associations, transmission and distribution companies, power producers, renewable energy players etc.

He added that having understood the complexities and underlying factors behind what this government inherited, a series of initiatives were undertaken and some results are beginning to show.

The Minister said that around Rs. 7,000 crore will be invested in Power Grid Security in the States.

He said many states have been facing power crisis due to coal shortage, and added that coal India will buy 250 more rakes to meet one billion tonnes of coal to meet the output by 2019.

Goyal also said that Coal India will also spend Rs 5,000 crore to buy these rakes to improve linkages.

The Minister said that old power plants with the capacity of 32,000 MW will be replaced to increase the power generation efficiency.

Goyal also talked about amicably resolving anti-dumping duty dispute of solar components, so as to give greater impetus to "Made in India" solar energy equipments following his assuming charge in office.

The Minister also brought to light how the present government after coming to power has also restored accelerated depreciation benefit to wind-power developers to expeditiously ramp up wind generation capacity. He cited how ad-hoc termination of this benefit in 2012 had resulted in nearly 50 percent fall in capacity installations in 2013.

The government also stated about other regulatory moves such as amendments in Electricity Act 2003 and Tariff Policy have been finalized and this would unleash the next wave of reforms such as competition in retail and Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO) enforcement.

Meanwhile, the government has approved National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE) in August 2014 with an outlay of Rs 775 crore. This will enhance investments for better technology, creation of a venture capital with partial risk guarantee fund, appliance rating system and notification of a new building code for energy conservation.