NT NETWORK
CANSAULIM
The Union Minister for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal, on Friday, said that the power ministers have agreed to meet the target of electrifying all un-electrified villages in the country by May 1, 2017.
The Centre has a set a target to electrify 18,452 un-electrified villages within 1,000 days by May 1, 2018.
Addressing a press conference at the conclusion of the two-day meeting of power ministers, wherein a lot of path-breaking decisions have been arrived at with states agreeing to several resolutions, Goyal said that the states have agreed to meet the target by May 1, 2017, a year ahead of May 1, 2018 deadline except for leftwing extremism affected Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orrisa.
He said that “some states including Goa have agreed to complete the electrification as early as December 31, 2016, however, one has to take into consideration that in some states it is not possible to work during the monsoon and winter. However, the majority of states will meet the May 1 deadline.”
The Union Minister said that the state governments under the UDAY have also agreed to share feeder data with the portal, making it possible to monitor the power supply at practically all the feeders in the country.
He further stated that the decision has been arrived by the Power Ministers to provide smart meters for all new connections and replace the existing meters in a phased manner for the 25 crore consumers in the country, adding that it was also decided to link to a central helpline number for facilitating addressing complaints which will be linked to a website to ensure transparency.
Goyal further stated that “in a bid to provide a boost to Make in India, it has been decided to promote availability of cheap and affordable power supply to find more utilisation of power besides creating an inventory on use of diesel in various sectors including railways, water pumps, generators etc.”
On the hydro and wind power, he said that “a committee headed by the Power Minister Manish Gupta has been formed to present a detailed report on various aspects of reviving stalled hydro and wind power projects through a new power policy,” adding that the committee will submit its first report in three months.
He pointed out that it has been decided to initiate an ‘Urjagiri› on the lines of Gandhigiri campaign against power thefts. He said that it is not the poor who are involved in power thefts but it is the big consumers who engage in such acts.