Govt begins work on National Electricity Plan

11 sub-committees set up in order to achieve govt's ambitious target of 24x7 power for all

Gearing up for its ambitious plan to provide 24x7 power to all, the government has started the process of drafting National Electricity Plan for next five years which will outline sector's projections, including generation.

The committee which has been entrusted to chalk out National Electricity Plan, has decided to constitute 11 sub-committees to deal with different aspects of the sector, the government said in an order.

The sub-committee-1 'Power for All' will suggest "measures for making available reliable and quality power to consumer at affordable rates" and make assessment "in terms of increase in demand... Due to 'Power for all' schemes," the order said.

Another sub-committee will make demand assessment in terms of peak and energy requirements for the period from 2017-22 and 2022-2027, it said.

There is also a sub-panel which will assess the generation capacity addition during 2017-22 from grid-connected renewable energy sources, it added.

The sub-committee on fuel requirement will "identify and quantify the different types of fuel requirement to meet the capacity addition, source-wise fuel availability etc," it said.

As on July 31, the country's power generation capacity is 2.75 lakh mega watt. The total power generation in the country was 1,048.67 billion units during 2014-15, up from 967.15 billion units in 2013-14.