New Delhi: The two-day-long conclave of Power Ministers from across the country on Saturday emphasized taking effective steps toward the reduction of aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, ensuring cost-reflective tariffs.
The Conference of Power and New & Renewable Energy Ministers of States and UTs that concludes at Udaipur also emphasized on accounting of subsidies and timely payment of subsidies by State governments, clearance of outstanding dues of State government departments, and adherence to Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and Related Matters) Rules, 2022 (LPS Rules) for timely payment of dues to generating companies.
For the reduction of AT&C losses, it was agreed to expedite the deployment of prepaid smart metering for consumers and system metering for establishing an energy accounting system. It was also agreed that subsidies for various categories of consumers shall be provided only on a per-unit basis on actual energy consumption.
It was emphasized during the conference on financial viability and sustainability of the distribution sector, modernization and upgradation of the power system and development of the power system to ensure 24×7 power supply including investment requirement and power sector reforms.
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Union Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh who presided over the two-day long conference highlighted that efforts and policies should be focussed towards providing better service to the electricity consumers. "Renewable energy deployment is central to achieve the target of net zero by 2070 and to reach 500 GW of non-fossil installed capacity by 2030 as per commitment of the nation towards achieving climate change goal," Singh said.
He appealed to the States to deploy solar rooftop systems expeditiously to ensure meeting the overall target of 40 GW. It was emphasized in the meeting that to ensure figure energy security, implementation of energy storage including BESS and pumped storage hydro projects should be taken up on priority.
"Future technologies including green hydrogen, offshore wind, off-grid and decentralized renewable energy (DRE) application need to be adapted," Singh said.
Emphasizing that the electricity demand in the country is set to double in the next decade and necessary capital investment, estimated at over Rs 50 lakh crore across power generation, transmission, and distribution will be required to cater to such demand, Singh said, "It is therefore essential to source funding of these investments from multiple sources."
