The Regional Conference of the Power Sector was held on 26th April in Gangtok in presence of Shri Prem Singh Tamang, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Sikkim and Shri Manohar Lal Khattar, Hon’ble Union Minister of Power and Housing & Urban Affairs.
The meeting was also attended by Shri Ratan Lal Nath ( Minister of Power, Tripura), Shri. A T Mondal ( Minister of Power, Meghalaya), Shri. F. Rodingliana ( Minister of Power, Mizoram), Shri. Jikke Tako, MLA cum Advisor Power (Arunachal Pradesh), and Shri. Sanjeet Kharel ( MLA cum Advisor, Sikkim).
The meeting saw the participation of the Union Power Secretary, Secretaries, (Power/ Energy) of participating States, CMDs of Central and State Power Utilities, and senior officers from the Ministry of Power.
Hon’ble Union Minister Shri Manohar Lal in his address 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.
He emphasized the importance of power in achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat. He further remarked that the regional conference would help in identifying specific challenges and solutions in respect of power sector of the North Eastern States.
He mentioned that despite the minor gap of 0.1% in meeting current power requirements, efforts must continue to meet future demands. Since 2014, power generation has increased significantly, and various modes of generation, including thermal, hydro, atomic, and renewable energy, must be advanced.
Addressing environmental concerns and moving towards non-fossil power is essential for achieving the Target of Net Zero Emissions. 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 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 Average Cost of Supply and Average Revenue Realised, to ensure that the distribution sector becomes viable. To achieve that, it is essential that the tariffs are cost-reflective.
He also emphasised upon the execution of works under RDSS, including Smart Metering Works, would go a long way in improving the operational losses of the utilities. He also emphasised that the Government establishments including Government colonies, should be prioritised for pre-paid smart metering.
He mentioned that 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 utilize that potential.
Secretary (Power), Government of India (GoI) highlighted the need for capital infusion to meet growing power demands and drive future reforms and modernization. It was mentioned that, given the long gestation period for power projects, it is crucial to tie up for necessary power requirement as per the resource adequacy plan for upto FY2030 at the earliest.
Further, it is also imperative to make necessary arrangements for intra-state transmission capacities as per the resource adequacy plan through various available financing models viz. Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB), Regulated Tariff Mechanism (RTM), budgetary support or monetization of existing assets.
The Secretary also impressed upon the planning to be done by the States for meeting summer power demand through necessary tie ups. Hon’ble Chief Minister, Sikkim in his address welcomed the guests and highlighted the key steps taken by the State towards improving the quality and reliability of power supply across the State.
He also highlighted the proposed plan of the State for further improving the power sector. He also requested for interventions from GoI on various issues concerning the State. The participating States thanked the Hon’ble Union Minister for the importance given to the North Eastern Region and also requested for continuous support of GoI for further strengthening the power infrastructure in the region.