Govt plans 24x7 electricity supply across the country by March 2025

This will be part of BJP's 'continuous reforms' if voted back to power

The Union government is looking to set March 2025 as the deadline for 24x7 electricity supply across the country, according to sources.

After connecting all households with electricity supply through two flagship schemes in the past decade, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government now plans to ensure uninterrupted reliable power supply by the end of 2024-25 (FY25).

This initiative will be part of the “continuous reforms” being planned if this government is voted back to power, said sources in the government.

After achieving universal connectivity, senior officials in the power ministry said, the next step was to ensure round-the-clock power supply.

“Average hours of electricity supply has increased in both rural and urban areas. States and power distribution companies (discoms) are being pursued to improve it further to 24 hours. It is the last lap,” said a senior official.
 

The ministry is also planning to introduce provisions for the same in regulations governing the discoms, such as Rights of Electricity Consumers and National Tariff Policy.
 

According to the details provided by the power ministry in the Rajya Sabha, the average power supply in urban areas stands at 23.5 hours per day and 20.5 hours per day in rural areas. During the summer months of 2023-24, India reached a record high power demand, crossing 240 gigawatt (Gw). The ministry expects the demand to touch 250 Gw in the upcoming financial year.

The power ministry did not respond to an emailed query on the subject sent by Business Standard.

Through SAUBHAGYA and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, the Centre has connected all villages and households with grid electricity in the past five years.

But despite enhanced connectivity, major states, such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Himachal Pradesh, have seen a significant reduction in the number of hours of power supply in their rural areas, according to a presentation made by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to the power ministry in April 2023, reviewed by Business Standard.

Sector experts said meeting urban demand is easier and is also the priority of the state owned or privately owned discoms. “The real challenge is rural areas, especially the farming zones, which are usually the subsidised electricity consumers. The path to 24x7 power supply is through feeder segregation in rural areas and reducing subsidy in electricity,” said a sector observer.

Feeder segregation entails separating the power supply feeders in rural areas between domestic and irrigation purposes. This ensures subsidised electricity reaches the farmers and is not misused. According to data on the UDAY dashboard, the progress rate of segregation of 62,000 identified rural feeders stands at 86 per cent currently.

The health of the state-owned discoms, which have to invest and ensure seamless power supply, is another challenge. 

“Health of discoms has improved in the past couple of years, though they would need to be on that path to ensure implementation of reforms. As demand also has increased, discoms would need to invest in signing more PPAs, modernisation of its transmission, and distribution infrastructure. It is a difficult task but setting a deadline is a good signal for the consumers and a strong one for continued investments in the sector,” said Mohit Kumar, vice-president, ICICI Securities.

Officials said the reform process of discoms had picked up pace with the triangulation of three key schemes — Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) and changes to the open access scheme. “Under RDSS, discoms have to get their house in order or they will lose grants for various central sector schemes. LPS ensures they pay power generators on time and open access has paved the ground for any and every power supplier beyond discoms. It’s time for discoms to shape up or ship out,” said a senior official.