Power ministers' Rajgir meet tomorrow called off

The two-day meet of power and renewable energy ministers which was scheduled to start at Rajgir in Bihar tomorrow has been called off at the eleventh hour.
The bi-ennial conference, which was to be chaired by Power Minister R K Singh, stood cancelled because Singh is slated to attend the Union Council of Ministers meet tomorrow.
"The Power and Renewable Ministers Conference in Rajgir on November 10-11, 2017, has been cancelled. The Prime Minister has called a meeting of Union Cabinet and Council of Ministers (tomorrow)," a source said.
A review of the performance of the Ministry of Coal is listed on the agenda, the source also said. The issues related to coal supplies are significant in view of the recent spurt in price of electricity at the power exchange to over Rs 10 per unit as a number of captive users jostled to buy power.

During the meet, Singh was expected to ask states to submit their plans and funding requirements to provide electricity to four crore families under the Saubhagya scheme by December next year.
Modi had launched the Saubhagya scheme (Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana) in September to achieve 100 per cent electrification of households by December 2018.

The other areas to be covered at the meeting include promoting pre-paid meters, separation of power feeders, digital payment of bills and providing 24x7 power for all.
The aim of the conference was to review the implementation of various schemes and programmes and deliberate on a host of issues pertaining to the sector.

The issues on reforms in the power and renewable energy sector were also listed for discussion at the meet. The other points on the agenda were how to mandate charges for cross subsidy and inter-state transmission, honouring of power purchase agreements and management of ash at thermal power plants.
The ministers were to deliberate on the issues related to hydro power, wind energy, districts affected by left-wing extremists, rooftop solar systems and biomass programme.