New Delhi : The Regional Conference for the Western Region States was held on 13th May in Mumbai in presence of Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra and Manohar Lal, Hon’ble Union Minister of Power and Housing & Urban Affairs.
The meeting was also attended by Shripad Naik, Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Ramkrishna alias Sudin Dhavalikar ( Minister of Power, Goa), Kanubhai Mohanlal Desai. (Hon’ble Minister of Energy, Gujarat), Pradyuman Singh Tomar (Energy Minister, Madhya Pradesh, through VC) and Meghana Sakore Bordikar (Minister of State for Energy, Maharashtra).
The meeting saw the participation of the Union Power Secretary, Secretaries (Power/Energy) of participating States, CMDs of Central and State Power Utilities, and senior officers from the Ministry of Power.
Secretary (Power), Government of India (GoI) highlighted that it is crucial to ensure necessary capacity tie-ups as per the resource adequacy plan for upto FY2035 so as to meet future power demand. It is also imperative to make necessary arrangements for development of inter-state and intra-state transmission capacities through various financing models available including Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB), Regulated Tariff Mechanism (RTM), budgetary support or monetization of existing assets. Further, in wake of recent geopolitical situation, securing the power sector infrastructure, including the transmission grid and distribution systems, is very critical and the States should implement necessary cyber security protocols for the same. In addition, States to also prepare and implement power islanding scheme.
The Chief Minister, Maharashtra in his address welcomed the guests and highlighted the key steps taken by the State towards improving the quality and reliability of power supply across the State. He also mentioned about the proposed plan of the State for reducing the AT&C losses and thus reducing the cost of supply. He also requested for support of Central Government on various issues concerning the State especially in restructuring the existing debts of the DISCOM which would help in making them viable.
The Union Minister in his address underlined the importance of a future-ready, modern, and financially viable power sector to fuel the country’s growth. He outlined the importance of cooperation and coordination between Central and the State Governments in achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047. He further remarked that such regional conferences would help in identifying specific challenges and possible solutions. He laid emphasis on ensuring resource adequacy and necessary power purchase tie-ups. Further, the States should also work on developing necessary storage capacities through Pumped Storage Projects and Battery Energy Storage Systems. He emphasized upon the need to enhance the Nuclear Generation Capacity in the country with the target of 100 GW by 2047. He mentioned about the need to create special zones for green energy to achieve Net Zero emission.
He mentioned that the distribution sector is most critical link in the power sector value chain. However, it faces challenges due to poor tariff structures, sub-optimal billing and collection, and delayed payments of Government department dues and subsidies. It is essential to reduce the AT&C losses and the gap between Average Cost of Supply and Average Revenue Realised, to ensure that the distribution sector becomes viable. To achieve that, it is essential that the tariffs are cost-reflective and Government dues and subsidies are paid on time to the DISCOMs.
He commended the States of Gujarat, Goa and Chhattisgarh for their performance in reducing AT&C loses. He also highlighted that distribution utilities should further strive to improve efficiency through implementation of infrastructure and smart metering works under RDSS. In this direction, the Ministry has also facilitated ease for fund flows for smart metering works. He also emphasised that the pre-paid smart meters should be prioritised for installation in Government establishments including Government colonies and should be completed by August 2025. The Smart meter has huge potential to transform the way consumers interact with utilities using the data analytics based on AI/ML tools.
The participating States thanked the Union Minister for necessary guidance and also requested for continuous support of the Central Government for further strengthening the power sector.