New Power Policy After Monsoon Session

A new national policy on power will be formulated after the monsoon session of Parliament. The policy will cover the entire gamut of the power sector, including generation, transmission and distribution, power minister Y K Alagh said in New Delhi yesterday.

Alagh, addressing the consultative committee of Parliament attached to his ministry, said representatives of various sectors of economy, including experts on power, will be involved in the formulation of the new policy.

The minister said the new policy had become necessary as the power scenario in the country was not very encouraging. The feasible capacity addition, as assessed for the ninth plan, would work out to be much less than projected. Therefore, efforts were being doubled up to maximise capacity addition during the ninth plan.

 

Along with this, it was also necessary to ensure that the existing facilities in the power sector were put to optimum use. There was scope for improvement in the average plant load factor of the thermal power plant in the country and many old units required renovation and modernisation.

Higher levels of investment in transmission and distribution would not only reduce T&D losses but also enhance the quality of electricity supply. Further, there was surplus energy available in certain parts of the country that needed to be transferred to the deficit regions through an integrated operation of the regional power systems, in which the Power Grid Corporation of India had a crucial role to play, the minister said.

He said steps would have to be taken to improve the health of state electricity boards and grid discipline must be enforced at all costs.

The ultimate objective of PowerGrid, he said, was to set up a national power grid for the country as a whole, connecting every nook and corner. A 1,000-mw high voltage double circuit back-to-back project at Chandraput to establish a link between western and southern regions was under execution and was expected to become operational by next month.

Alagh pointed out that emerging from the economic aspects of the Gujral Doctrine, PowerGrid would also play a major role in the exchange of power between neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.