Prepaid smart metering being prioritised in all govt establishments: Union Minister Manohar Lal

Mumbai, May 13 (IANS) Union Power Minister Manohar Lal on Tuesday said that the pre-paid smart metering is being prioritised in all government establishments, including government colonies, adding that there is a need to create special zones for green energy to achieve Net Zero emissions.

The minister was speaking at the Regional Conference for the Western Region States and it was attended by Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy Shripad Naik, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Goa power minister Ramkrishna alias Sudin Dhavalikar, Gujarat power minister Kanubhai Mohanlal Desai, Maharashtra minister of state for power Meghana Sakore Borikar while Madhya Pradesh power minister Pradyuman Singh Tomar joined through video conference.

The minister said that pre-paid smart meters should be prioritised for installation in government establishments, including government colonies and should be completed by August 2025. The smart meter has huge potential to transform the way consumers interact with utilities using data analytics based on AI/ML tools.

He also highlighted that distribution utilities should further strive to improve efficiency through the implementation of infrastructure and smart metering works under RDSS. In this direction, the Ministry has also facilitated ease for fund flows for smart metering works.

Minister Manohar Lal underlined the importance of a future-ready, modern, and financially viable power sector to fuel the country's growth. He outlined the importance of cooperation and coordination between the Central and state governments in achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047.

He further remarked that such regional conferences would help in identifying specific challenges and possible solutions. He laid emphasis on ensuring resource adequacy and necessary power purchase tie-ups.

Further, the States should also work on developing necessary storage capacities through Pumped Storage Projects and Battery Energy Storage Systems. He emphasised the need to enhance the Nuclear Generation Capacity in the country with the target of 100 GW by 2047. He mentioned the need to create special zones for green energy to achieve Net Zero emissions.

He mentioned that the distribution sector is the most critical link in the power sector value chain. However, it faces challenges due to poor tariff structures, sub-optimal billing and collection, and delayed payments of government department dues and subsidies.

It is essential to reduce the aggregate technical and commercial (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 and Government dues and subsidies are paid on time to the distribution companies (DISCOMs).

In his address, Chief Minister Fadnavis highlighted the key steps taken by Maharashtra towards improving the quality and reliability of power supply across the State. He also mentioned the proposed plan of the state for reducing the AT&C losses and thus reducing the cost of supply. He also requested support of the Central government on various issues concerning the state, especially in restructuring the existing debts of the DISCOM, which would help in making them viable.

The Union Power Secretary, Pankaj Agarwal, highlighted that it is crucial to ensure necessary capacity tie-ups as per the resource adequacy plan for up to FY2035 so as to meet future power demand. It is also imperative to make necessary arrangements for the development of inter-state and intra-state transmission capacities through various financing models available, including Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB), Regulated Tariff Mechanism (RTM), budgetary support or monetisation of existing assets.

Further, in the wake of the recent geopolitical situation, securing the power sector infrastructure, including the transmission grid and distribution systems, is very critical, and the states should implement necessary cybersecurity protocols for the same. In addition, states to also prepare and implement a power islanding scheme, he said.

--IANS

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