GUWAHATI, Dec 3: Union minister for power and new and renewable energy, R.K Singh held a review meeting with the power ministers of the Northeast here on Friday to discuss the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme.
In his address, Singh said power is the key to development and that a country cannot develop until and unless it has seamless power supply.
“Power is the most crucial element when it comes to the establishment of industries which is the core factor in a nation’s progress. The power sector has witnessed tremendous growth over the past few years in the areas of generation, transmission and distribution,” he said.
“The objective is to supply round-the-clock power to every household in the rural and urban areas of the country and to make India a world leader in power production,” he added.
The Union minister informed that the availability of power in the country, including the Northeast, has gone up to an average of 21 hours per day in the rural areas and 23 hours in the urban areas.
Referring to the scenario in the region, Singh said that in the past three to four years the power system in the Northeast has developed tremendously and almost all states in the region have managed to revamp their power system.
On the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, Singh said the scheme would help reduce the losses, underling that the increasing demand for electricity has necessitated the strengthening and modernisation of the distribution infrastructure.
The minister further added that implementation of the scheme would lead to consumer empowerment by way of prepaid smart metering.
“The scheme provides financial support for prepaid smart metering and system metering and upgrade of the distribution infrastructure,” the minister added.
Emphasising on the need to modernise the system, Singh elaborated that in order to reduce losses, states need to focus on improving billing efficiency and ensuring timely payment for electricity consumption by government departments.
The minister said that with planning and sincerity in implementation, an operationally efficient and financially sustainable electricity distribution sector could be developed using the scheme, to meet the aspirations of citizens of the country.
The central government has approved the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme – a reforms based and results-linked scheme with an outlay of Rs 3,03,758 crore over a period of five years from financial year 2021-22 to 2025-26.