New Delhi: At a review meeting held on Friday, Minister for Power RK Singh stressed on the need to modernise power distribution system and told North-Eastern (NE) state governments that an increase in demand for electricity has necessitated the strengthening of the power distribution network. Talking about the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, the minister added that the 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 up-gradation of the distribution infrastructure, the minister added.
The review meeting was held to discuss the revamped distribution sector scheme and was attended by Power Ministers and concerned officers of North Eastern states.
The minister said that the availability of power in the country, including the North-East, has gone up to an average of around 21 hours per day in rural areas and 23 hours in urban areas. Talking about the power system in the North-East region, the minister said that in the past three-four years, the power system in the North-East has developed tremendously and almost all states in the region have managed to revamp their power system. Today, the power system in the NE states is very different than what it was four years back, he added.
Emphasising on the need to modernise the system, Singh said that in order to reduce losses, states need to focus on improving billing efficiency, ensuring timely payment for electricity consumption by government departments etc. The minister said that with planning and sincerity in implementation, an operationally efficient and financially sustainable electricity distribution sector can be developed using this scheme to meet the aspirations of the citizens of the country.
"Singh said that power is the key to development and a country can't develop until and unless it has a seamless power supply. He further said that power is the most crucial element when it comes to the establishment of industries which is the core factor in a nation's progress. Power sector has witnessed tremendous growth over the past few years in the areas of generation, transmission and distribution and the objective is to give 24×7 power supply to every household in the rural and urban areas of the country and to make India a world leader in power production," said an official statement.
The Central government has approved a 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 FY22 to FY26 with the objective to improve the quality, reliability and affordability of power supply to consumers through a financially sustainable and operationally efficient distribution sector.
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