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Power Minister Chairs RPM Meeting with States and State Power Utilities in New Delhi

Various reforms recently undertaken in the power sector like renewable generation obligation, mandatory resource adequacy planning and rationalisation of open access charges were discussed during the meeting.

July 12, 2023. By Anurima Mondal

Under the chairmanship of Power Minister RK Singh, the Review Planning & Monitoring (RPM) meeting with states and state power utilities was convened on July 10 and July 11 in New Delhi. Various other dignitaries including Krishan Pal Gurjar, Minister of State for Power, Power Secretary, Additional Chief Secretaries, Secretaries, Principal Secretaries (Power/Energy) of States, Chairman & Managing Directors of State Power Utilities and officials from CPSEs participated in the meeting.

Power Minister RK Singh mentioned that over the past 7-8 years, there has been a sea change in the country’s power sector. Around 185 GW of capacity was added transforming India from power deficit to power surplus.

“We have connected the whole country with a single unified grid capable of transferring 1,12,000 MW from one corner of the country to another. We have strengthened the distribution system under DDUGJY and IPDS as well as SAUBHAGYA; constructed more than 2,900 substations, upgrading more than 3,900 substations, we added 8,50,000 ckt kms of HT & LT lines, 7,50,000 transformers and 1,12,000 ckt kms of agricultural feeders. As a result of all this the power availability in rural areas has gone up from 12:30 hrs in 2014 to 22:30 hrs today; while in urban areas the national average availability is 23:30 hrs. Together, we have made the power sector viable. Today all current power purchase dues are paid on time, while the legacy overdues have come down from INR 1,39,747 crore to INR 69,957 crore,” he added.

The minister expressed satisfaction that most of the State/DISCOMs have started implementing reform measures prescribed by Ministry of Power under its various initiatives like the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), Additional Prudential Norms and Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) Rules, 2022. The AT&C losses have reduced to 16.5 percent from 22 percent and ACS-ARR gap has come down to 15 paise per unit from 69 paise per unit.

Various reforms recently undertaken in the power sector like renewable generation obligation, mandatory resource adequacy planning and rationalisation of open access charges were discussed during the meeting.

The minister pointed out that tariff should be reflective of cost and up to date and suggested that realistic/prudent loss reduction trajectories should be adopted by regulatory commissions for DISCOMs to be viable. All the states were advised to follow multi-year tariff regime going forward. He also emphasised on the importance of correct subsidy accounting by the DISCOMs and timely payment of subsidy dues by respective state governments.

To overcome the issue of outstanding government department dues, DISCOMs were advised to undertake prepaid smart metering of government offices on priority.

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Renewable Generation Obligation

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