MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER (SHRI BHARATSINH SOLANKI)
(a) to (e):
(i) Reform and Restructuring of Power Sector With the enactment of Electricity Act, 2003
Government has initiated various reforms and restructuring of Power Sector in India. The status of
reforms are as under:
# The formation of State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERC). All the states including Delhi have
constituted SERCs except Arunachal Pradesh and two Joint Electricity Regulatory Commissions(JERC) are
functioning. One JERC has been constituted for all the Union Territories & Goa except Delhi and other
JERC constituted for Mizoram & Manipur.
# The unbundling of State Electricity Boards in 14 states (out of 21 SEBs) have been completed.
In addition, Tripura has corporatized their Electricity Department.
# Special Courts in 23 States including Delhi have been setup to deal with the theft of electricity.
# In 22 states the Consumer Grievances Redressal fora have been constituted
# In 22 States Ombudsman have been appointed.
# National Tariff Policy & National Electricity Plan have been formulated.
# Definition of theft has been expanded to cover use of tampered meters and use of electricity for
unauthorized purpose by amending Section 135 of the Electricity Act, 2003. Theft has been made
explicitly cognizable offence and non-bailable by insertion to new sections 151A & 151B.
# To increase competition and private sector participation, Standard Bidding Documents have been issued.
# CERC has issued regulations for inter state open access transmission and SERCs have issued regulations
for intra-state open access.
The schemes aimed at augmenting power generation are successful and is in line with the capacity addition
target fixed by Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission had fixed a capacity addition target of 78,700 MW during the 11th Plan to meet the
power requirement of the country. Based on the inputs provided by the project developers and suppliers, CEA
has assessed a total capacity of 62,294 MW is likely with a high level of certainty during 11th Plan. A
capacity of 20,352 MW has already been commissioned till 12.02.2010 and a capacity aggregating to 41,942
MW is likely to be commissioned with a high level of certainty during the balance period of 11th Plan.
In addition, projects totaling to 12,550 MW are being attempted for commissioning on best efforts basis
during the 11th Plan.
Following measures have been taken/are being taken by the Government to augment power generation
in the country:-
(i) Rigorous monitoring of capacity addition of the on-going generation projects.
(ii) Coordinated operation and maintenance of hydro, thermal, nuclear and gas based power stations
to optimally utilize the existing generation capacity.
(iii) Arranging import of coal to meet the shortfall in coal supplies to thermal power stations
from indigenous sources.
(IV) Allocation of gas from KG Basin (D6) has been made for gas based power stations in the country.
(V) Tapping of surplus power from captive power plants.
(VI) Development of Ultra Mega Power Projects of 4000 MW each to reap benefits of economies of scale.
(VII) Renovation, modernization and life extension of old and inefficient generation units.
(viii) Strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution network through Acceleration
Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) as a major step towards loss reduction.
The Govt. has issued standard Bid Documents for procurement of power through tariff based competitive
bidding route and four Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) viz. Mundra UMPP (5x800 MW) in Gujarat, Sasan
UMPP (6x660 MW) in Madhya Pradesh, Krishnapatnam UMPP (5x800 MW) in Andhra Pradesh & Tilaiya UMPP
(6x660 MW) in Jharkhand have already been awarded viz. Mundra to M/s Tata Power Company and Sasan,
Krishnapatnam & Tilaiya to M/s Reliance Power Limited.
(ii) Open Access:
Section 42 of Electricity Act, 2003 provides for introduction of open access in distribution and permits
the consumers or class of consumers to receive supply of electricity from a person other than the
distribution licensee of his area of supply. So far 23 Regulatory Commissions have issued open access
regulations.
(iii) The salient features of Electricity Amendment Act, 2007 are as under :-
# A new Section for Section (6) of Electricity Act, 2003 has been substituted with joint responsibility
of State Government and Central Government in Rural Electrification. The concerned State Government and
Central Government shall jointly endeavour to provide access for electricity to all areas including villages
and hamlets through rural electricity infrastructure and electrification of households.
# Section 9 of the Electricity Act, 2003 has been amended with a proviso that no license shall be required
under this Act for supply of electricity generated from a Captive Generating Plant to any licensee in
accordance with the provisions of this Act and the Rules and Regulations made thereunder and to any
consumer subject to the regulations made under sub-section 2 of Section 42.
# Section 42 has been amended by deletion of the provision for `elimination` of cross-subsidies.
Cross Subsidies shall be reduced in the manner as may be specified by State Commission.
# Section 50 has been substituted with a new section which contains provisions for specifying electricity
supply code by State Commissions.
(iv) Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (RAPDRP)
Government of India has launched Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (RAPDRP)
with the objective of reducing AT&C losses to 15%. Under this scheme the total outlay of the scheme is Rs
.51,577 crores. There are two parts of the Scheme. Part A of the scheme envisages establishment of baseline
data, AMR adoption of IT facilities etc. and loan will be given to various SEBs/Distribution Companies and
Government proposed to invest Rs.10,000 crores. Initially it will be given as loan and entire amount will
be converted into grant subject to certain conditions.
Part (B) of the Scheme is for System Improvement projects and Government proposes to invest Rs.40,000 crores
which include renovation, modernization and strengthening of 11 kV level Substations, Transformers/Transformer
Centers, Re-conductoring of lines at 11 kV level and below, Load Bifurcation, feeder separation, load
Balancing, HVDS (11 kV), Aerial Bunched Conductoring in dense areas, replacement of electromagnetic energy
meters with tamper proof electronic meters, installation of capacitor banks and mobile service centers etc.
In exceptional cases, where sub-transmission system is weak, strengthening at 33 kV or 66 kV levels may also
be considered. Under this 25% will be given as loan and 75% would have to be arranged by SEBs/DISCOMs from
financial institutions/ their own resources. The 50% of the amount will be converted into grant in case the
Utilities are able to reduce the loss to 15% on sustainable basis.
Under part (A), projects of APDRP so far 1366 projects at the cost of 4925.15 crores has been approved
to 24 States.
(v) Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana ( RGGVY )
The Government of India has also launched a Scheme `Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana of Rural
Electricity Infrastructure and Household Electrification` on 4th April, 2005 for the attainment of the
National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) goal for providing access to electricity to all households.
The scheme aimed at electrification of 1.25 lakh unelectrified villages and electrification of 2.34
crore BPL households.
As on 28.2.2010, 573 projects at an estimated cost of 26353.51 Crore in 546 districts of 27 States,
covering 1.18 lakh unelectrified villages and 2.46 crore BPL households have been sanctioned by REC.
So far, 75,068 un- electrified villages and 96.80 lakh BPL households have been electrified.
