Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy RK Singh on Tuesday said “Country on path to achieve 100% household electrification by 31 March, 2019 and our next goal is 24X7 power for all households”.
He congratulated States for electrifying 2.5 crore households under Saubhagya in a record time of 17 months.
Singh was addressing the inaugural session of the Conference of Power and Renewable Energy Ministers of States and UTs at Gurugram. The two-day Conference will review the implementation of various ongoing Schemes/ Programmes& deliberate on a host of issues pertaining to Power and Renewable Energy sectors.
The Power Minister also felicitated State Power Departments and DISCOMs for their achievements under Saubhagya.
Laying the roadmap for achieving 24X7 power for all, Singh said that this will be done by strengthening the distribution network, improving the DISCOMs health, reducing the transmission & distribution losses, using technology to improve billing and collection efficiency and energy efficiency. However the hours of power supplied to agriculture sector will be as per state’s policies so as to reduce water wastage and prevent over exploitation ofour already stressed ground water resources.
Addressing the conference, Ajay Bhalla, Secretary, Power invited the States/UTs to share their views and work together to find solutions to the challenges faced by the Power Sector.
The Conference is being attended by the Ministers and Secretaries of the States and Union territories and senior officials of the power & renewable energy sectors and Public Sector Undertakings under them.
In the next two days, the delegates will discuss issues like- 24X7 Power For All, present situation analysis of thermal power, Intra-state and Inter-state transmission status, promoting energy efficiency and renewables for a less carbon intensive economy.
New reforms such as UDAY-II – use of technology, improving metering/billing/collection and solar irrigation will also be discussed during the conference.