Southern Grid connectivity a landmark achievement for power sector: Scindia

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said that connectivity to the Southern Grid should be seen as a historical achievement.

He said that the addition of 21 GW took place during fiscal 2012-13, and more than 8700 MW of capacity addition had been achieved by December last year.

Scindia said that the total installed capacity in the country at present stands at 236 GW and added that a total installed capacity of 400 GW will be required by 2022 to meet the power demand.

He said this was a huge challenge for the country.

Scindia opined that availability, adequacy, and affordability have to be the crux of power sector strategy in India. For this, he added that the emphasis of power sector development should be on capacity addition, transmission and last mile connectivity.

He said the southern grid connectivity was achieved three months ahead of schedule with the commissioning of 765 Kv Raichur-Sholapur Transmission line on December 31, 2013.

"With this, the power system has stepped into a new era-One Nation, One Grid, One Frequency," the minister added.

He predicted that the country will have the largest transmission capacity in the world in the next four to five years.

He also informed thay the RGGVY scheme has been extended to the 12th Plan and for the balance of the 13th Plan, covering habitations with the population of 100 and above.

More than Rs. 35000 crore have been approved for the completion of the scheme in the 13th Plan.

Speaking about the supply of gas to the coal sector, Scindia said that after the latest decision of the government to cap the supply of domestic gas to the fertilizer sector, nearly 9 MMSCMD of additional gas will be available to the power sector over the next three years.

With respect to the supply of coal to the power sector, he said that a remarkable achievement has been signing of 157 FSAs with total capacity of 72 GW out of a total of stipulated 78 GW in a record time of two-and-a-half months.

He also said that the Ladakh region will be connected with the national grid soon.

Speaking on the issue of subsidy on power, Scindia said that if the states wished to give a subsidy on electricity, then they must re-imburse the subsidy amount to the concerned DISCOM immediately to ensure revenue neutrality of the DISCOM.