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New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Union Power Minister Khattar urges states to fast-track smart meter rollout, ensure power sector reforms
CHANDIGARH: Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday asked state governments to saturate the installation of prepaid smart meters in all government establishments, including government colonies by August this year .He also said the states to complete the installation of smart meters for commercial and industrial consumers by November. Addressing the Regional Conference for the Northern Region States and UTs here, the minister underlined the importance of a future-ready, modern, and financially viable power sector to fuel the country's growth. The Union Power minister also underlined the importance of a future-ready, modern, and financially viable power sector to fuel the country's growth on its journey towards becoming a developed nation. Khattar said that smart meters have the potential to change how consumers interact with electricity providers by using data analytics powered by AI and machine learning tools. These features, built into smart meter applications, can help users make better energy choices and benefit from more efficient energy use. "India has successfully met a peak demand of 250 GW in May 2024 and has transformed from power-deficit to a power-sufficient nation, and as of today, peak demand shortage is zero," he said adding that the growth of the power sector is important for achieving the goal of 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047. The minister said the states should, while meeting their resource adequacy plan, should also work on having adequate power generation mix including addition of nuclear generation capacity. India's peak electricity demand is projected to reach 446 GW by 2034–35, and this sustainably requires proactive planning and continued coordination between the Centre, States, and stakeholders. On the issue of power reliability, Khattar highlighted the importance of cybersecurity and "islanding schemes" to help prevent outages due to cyber threats and to make the power grid more resilient. Calling the distribution sector the most critical link in the power value chain, Khattar said it continues to face major challenges due to poor tariff structures, inefficient billing and collections, and delays in payments by government departments. He said it is important to reduce AT&C (Aggregate Technical and Commercial) losses and the gap between the cost of supply and the revenue collected. He urged states to work with Electricity Regulatory Commissions for cost-reflective tariffs and timely tariff revisions. 'Losses of utilities today add to cost of power for consumers and also deteriorate the delivery of services to consumers, and further, continued losses have a cascading effect,' he said. Khattar also called on distribution companies to speed up work under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme to improve efficiency and smart infrastructure. He said the delay in payment of government dues and subsidies continues to affect the financial health of utilities, with some states still behind on dues from the 2023–24 financial year and wider gaps seen in the current year.
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Business Standard
26-04-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Union power minister urges states to prioritise prepaid smart metering
Union Power Minister Manohar Lal on Saturday asked states to prioritise prepaid smart metering at government establishments including government colonies. Addressing the regional conference of the power sector here, he said that the installation of prepaid smart meters at government establishments, including government colonies, will streamline optimisation of revenue from consumption of power. "The installation of prepaid smart meters at government establishments, including residential colonies, will not only optimise revenue generation from power consumption but help reduce operational losses of the entities involved in power generation, transmission and distribution network," he said. The regional conference was attended among others by Tripura's Power minister Ratan Lal Nath, Meghalaya Power minister A T Mondal, Mizoram Power minister F Rodingliana and Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang. The Union Power minister also underlined the importance of a future-ready, modern, and financially viable power sector to fuel the country's growth on its journey towards becoming a developed nation. "The growth of power sector is important for achieving the goal of 'viksit Bharat'," Lal said, adding that the regional conference would help in identifying specific challenges and solutions with respect of the power sector of the North Eastern states. He said that despite the minor gap of 0.1 per cent in meeting current power requirements, efforts must continue to meet future demands. Since 2014, power generation has increased significantly through various modes of generation, including thermal, hydro, atomic, and renewable energy, he said and urged the power utilities to further augment generation. Addressing environmental concerns and moving towards non-fossil power is essential for achieving the target of net zero emissions, Lal said. He mentioned that through government schemes like RDSS and PM-JANMAN, difficulties in the distribution sector are being addressed, and left-out households are being electrified. The Power minister highlighted that the distribution sector faces challenges due to poor tariff structures, suboptimal 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 the average cost of supply and average revenue realised, to ensure that the distribution sector becomes viable," he said, adding to achieve that, it is essential that the tariffs are cost-reflective. Lal said states should work towards ensuring energy security and given the hydro-power potential, including pumped-storage, in the North Eastern region, the states should make efforts to effectively utilise that potential. In his welcome address, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang highlighted the various steps taken by his state towards improving the quality and reliability of power supply. He said that the state government proposed to take measures to further improve the power sector for which the interventions from central government will be required to resolve various issues.
