Rural households still bereft of electricity: Report
Nearly 35 per cent of rural households across the country are still bereft of electricity mainly due to lack of effective monitoring and co-ordination between the Centre and state governments, a recent report has said. “Access to electricity is a key socio-economic development indicator – an area where there is still a significant gap in India. As of May 2016, 35 per cent of rural households are bereft of electricity with sharp variation across the country,” as per a study by financial services firm JM Financial. While 87 and 71 per cent household in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, have no reported access, there is universal electricity access in states such as Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, it added. “As electricity is a concurrent subject, lack of effective monitoring and co-ordination can be attributed to the wide variance across states,” the brokerage firm noted. It pointed out that there has been a delay in execution of projects and was evident from the low actual spend in past programmes. By May 2016, only 25 per cent of the 12th Plan’s amount allocated to rural electrification programme has been spent and 81 per cent for the 10th-11th Plan has been spent. The Narendra Modi government has launched the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) as the flagship rural electrification programme. “DDUGJY incorporates real-time monitoring of work progress, independent verifications through Gram Vidyut Abhiyanta (GVA) engineers and is likely to see improved execution,” the firm said. As per the report, rural electrification, along with the urban T&D development plan, is expected to drive massive spending of Rs 1.6 trillion (USD 24 billion) over FY16-22; benefiting companies across the electricity chain. According to the study, five states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Assam, account for 80 per cent of un-electrified households. These states account for 38 per cent of total population, are economically weaker (GDP/capita at 55 per cent of the national average) and also have inferior power generation infrastructure (18 per cent of national installed power capacity). “However, due to the way village electrification is currently defined, even Bihar and UP report 98 per cent of villages as electrified, even though only 13 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively, of rural households have electricity access in these states,” it said. JM Financial, therefore, noted that the criteria for declaring a village as electrified should be relooked and focus should be on monitoring household electrification more than village electrification. Steve McNair Womens Jersey
Over 15.45 crore LED bulbs distributed so far under UJALA scheme: Govt
As many as 5.15 crore households in India have so far used over 15.45 crore LED bulbs under the Unnat Jyoti Affordable LED programme, a government release said. “UJALA is the world’s largest Light Emitting Diode (LED) programme for the residential sector. The initiative is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) a public sector undertaking of Ministry of Power,” the release said. The scheme is presently operational in 18 states and four union territories. EESL will roll out the scheme in West Bengal and North Eastern states in the coming days. In the remaining states and union territories, the decision to roll out the scheme is pending with the respective state governments. Under the UJALA scheme, consumers can avail these LED bulbs at an upfront cost and can save nearly Rs. 336 every year on their electricity bills per LED bulb, making the bulbs free to the user in just 3 months. The government has a target of replacing all the 77 crore inefficient bulbs in India with LEDs. This will result in reduction of 20,000 MW load, energy savings of 100 billion kWh and Green House Gas (GHG) reduction of 80 million tonnes every year. Adrian Wilson Authentic Jersey
Tangedco to join central scheme for power distributors
After much dithering, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) has decided to join the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (Uday) scheme of the Central government. A team from the state led by power minister P Thangamani will soon meet Union power minister Piyush Goyal to discuss the modalities for joining the Centre’s flagship scheme for power discoms across the country. March 2017 has been fixed as the deadline for the states to join the scheme, and 15 states have already joined the scheme. Tamil Nadu has been reluctant to join Uday, as it would be mandatory for the states to revise power tariff every quarter under the scheme. The state has also been pushing the Centre to allow it to cross the fiscal deficit limit of 3% of GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) to enable it to absorb Tangedco’s debt of 80,000 crore. Once the loss-making discom joins the Uday scheme, the company’s overall debt and amount apportioned to service the interest component will come down. Though Tamil Nadu has been reluctant to join the scheme, Goyal wanted Tangedco to join the scheme, and finally, according to sources, the deal was clinched when he met chief minister J Jayalalithaa last July. Carson Tinker Jersey
Gone with the wind: Has solar left wind behind in the renewable energy race?
India may have set for itself a very aggressive and ambitious target to boost renewable energy generation in the country but the industry feels the development and increased focus on solar energy could very well take the wind out of the sails of wind power companies in India. The government plans to take India’s renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022 which comprises 100 GW solar, 60 GW wind, 10 GW from biomass and 5 GW from small hydro powers. With around 27 GW cumulative wind installations in India, the sector is almost half done with the target. But the developers are now feeling the heat to achieve the other half of the target with uncertainty on extension of generation based incentive (GBI), coupled with unwillingness of state power distribution companies to support costly power. Currently, wind power generation is a step behind as developments in solar override developments in wind, feels Sunil Jain, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Hero Future Energies. “Among other reasons, the delay in signing power purchase agreement and the new draft policy of re-powering the turbines below 1MW capacity, is keeping wind power developers in a dilemma. Close to 550 MW of wind generation capacity is lying idle in Maharashtra as the state has refused to sign power purchase agreement with the producers. Furthermore, the reduction of levelized tariff from 5.92 kwH to 4.78 kwH in the state of Madhya Pradesh for all the wind power projects commissioned this financial year, have made these projects unviable,” Jain said. Additionally wind power technology is fairly matured vis-a-vis solar power, reducing the possibility of significant reduction in cost of generation and/or technological obsolescence. Adding to the industry woes, the new draft wind re-powering policy expects wind turbines below 1 MW of capacity to be replaced. However, the incentives offered on it are insufficient and the overall cost of re-powering is likely to be greater than the cost of setting up a green-field facility, including the cost of power substations. Around 3,300 MW wind power capacity was added in 2015-16 as compared to the previous highest installation of 3,196 MW in 2011, propelled by technology and conducive policy environment for renewable. The growth was way higher than the industry estimates of 30 to 40%. The industry has attracted an investment of over $3.16 billion and the cumulative installations of the sector is about 64% of India’s total grid interactive renewable energy capacity. This is equivalent to reducing carbon emissions by over 58.56 million tonnes per annum or planting over 1.76 billion trees,” Suzlon Chairman Tulsi Tanti said. However, Tulsi noted that to maintain the growth momentum, the government should consider few policy recommendations such as continuation of Accelerated Depreciation and Generation Based Incentive till 2022, earmarking at least 20% finance for renewable energy by banks, supporting SMEs by 5% interest rebate for using renewable energy for captive requirement and improving availability of grid and land infrastructure at state level. On the other hand, solar has continued to receive privileged attention from both the government and investors as there is huge growth potential in the sector compared to wind which has become stagnant over the years. Among the various schemes and incentives to promote the use of renewables in India, the government recently affirmed sanctioning of 30% capital subsidy for rooftop solar installations to residential, government, social and institutional segments. Commercial and industrial entities are excluded from this scheme, ensuring that the funds are made available to those who are genuine need of funds. “The doubling of coal cess in the Union Budget 2016-17 is likely to amass Rs 18,000-20,000 crore annually. Out of these, approximately Rs 5,000-8,000 crore will be diverted to renewable sector, primarily solar, to fund the solar rooftop subsidies, depriving wind energy altogether,” said Sunil Jain. As a result, many renewable energy companies, which were primarily present in the wind sector, are now slowly trying their luck in solar as well. The largest wind energy company Suzlon has recently forayed into solar along with others including CLP India, Mytrah Energy (India) and ReNew Power Ventures. Even investors as big as Japan’s SoftBank have expressed interest towards India’s solar power sector. Jordan Reed Womens Jersey
Fuji Electric Forms Joint Venture With Gemco to Expand In Indian Markets
Japanese electric and thermal energy major, Fuji Electric announced it’s Joint Venture (JV) with Faridabad based Gemco Controls Ltd at a press event held today in New Delhi. The JV establishes a new company in India – “Fuji Gemco Pvt.Ltd” with Fuji electric having a 51 per cent stake said the company press release. The JV aims to expand its business operations in India by offering system solutions in sync with its “Innovating Energy Technology” philosophy the statement added. “Fuji Electric is estimating that the industrial power electronics market in India is set to grow at 9 per cent a year between 2016 and 2018. We intend to evolve our operations so as to become a solution provider and manufacturer,” said Kenzo Sugai, Executive Vice President Fuji Electric about the JV. “Fuji Gemco aims to boost sales by providing cost effective solutions, leverage Human Resources to drive growth and technology,” said Shoumitra Chatterjee, Chief Executive Officer, Fuji India. Fuji Gemco currently has three Projects in India – Smart grid project to reduce transmition losses by half in Panipat Energy Management System (EMS) for Sail Burmpur plant Energy Management system research with the State of Andhra Pradesh Rickey Jackson Authentic Jersey
On-Paper electrification does not give power to villages in Hathras
Nagla Fatela in Hathras district is not the only village in Uttar Pradesh that has been declared as electrified only on paper. The power ministry has found that 20 of the 25 villages in the district have been declared as energised by the power distribution utility but the households do not have connections. The ministry has found gross violations of the terms on which funds were released to Uttar Pradesh for rural electrification under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana, a senior government official said. Nagla Fatela came into the limelight after media reports highlighted that the village, referred to as electrified by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech, did not have electricity access. The PM had said that although the village was only three hours away from Delhi, it took 70 years for electricity to reach there. During field visits conducted by Rural Electrification Corporation’s engineers, called gram vidyut abhiyantas, on August 18-19, it was found that though new infrastructure has been laid, electricity connections have not been released by Dakshin Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Ltd, a unit of the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. The distribution utility has certified all 25 villages as energised. Most of the households in the 20 villages in Hathras district have illegal, unmetered electricity connections, the official said. The Centre is carrying out field verification in all 1,450-odd villages declared as electrified by Uttar Pradesh through central assistance.Uttar Pradesh’s principal energy secretary and Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation chairman Sanjay Agarwal was not available for comments. “Most new infrastructure in these villages is lying idle as the lines have not been charged due to lack of clearance from electoral engineers. Also, we have found that in Uttar Pradesh contractors are paid on erection of infrastructure, while under Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana the payments can be made only after releasing connections and continous energisation,” the official said. Rural Electrification Corporation last week wrote a letter to Uttar Pradesh’s principal energy secretary, asking the power distribution companies in the state to avoid such discrepancies. The corporation also sought directions to distribution companies in the state and electoral inspectorate for immediate continuous energisation and release of connections from the new infrastructure Bobby Wagner Womens Jersey
Reliance Energy says no to govt plan for uniform tariff
Reliance Energy has refused to accept the proposed uniform tariff plan for residential consumers claiming it would cause them loss, energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference at Mantralaya, Bawankule said all other electricity providers — BEST, Tata Power and MahaDiscom — have agreed to a uniform tariff plan. “They (Reliance) claim they will suffer a loss of Rs 150 crore if they agree to the tariff plan,” Bawankule said adding that the government would use its special power to make the company agree. The proposal with regard to carrying out an audit of Reliance Energy and Tata Power is now with the law and judiciary department, he said. “Once we have their approval we shall begin the audit,” said Bawankule. A Reliance Energy spokesperson said: “Energy tariff determination is a prerogative of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission. Reliance Energy’s views on uniform tariff are consistent with MERC. We are not against implementation of uniform tariff but at the same time, we want to protect the interest of all consumers.” In an earlier order, the state electricity regulatory commission noted that “comparison between the category-wise tariffs of different licensees has to be seen in the context of the cost of supply, the consumer mix, consumption mix, current level of cross-subsidy, and other factors”. A power expert said that Reliance Energy serves more than 20 lakh residential consumers as compared to BEST which has six to seven lakh and Tata over five lakh, so the proposed uniform tariff plan will affect Reliance the most. Valtteri Filppula Womens Jersey
‘APEPDCL aims to provide uninterrupted power supply’
Mudavatu M Nayak, chairman and managing director of Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL), has several plans up his sleeves to transform APEPDCL into one of the best discoms in the country. A graduate in mechanical engineering from Andhra University, Nayak joined the Indian Administrative Service in August, 2005. Before he took over as the CMD of the APEPDCL in July, Nayak served as the district collector of Vizianagaram. In an interview with V Kamalakara Rao of TOI, Nayak speaks about his plans to develop APEPDCL and protect the interests of its over 50 lakh consumers. What’s the current status of the APEPDCL? We have reduced the transmission and distribution losses. The sale of meters is up by 84%. We have strengthened the network system. It has surplus power, and ranks among the best discoms in the country. However, there is a gap between the consumer and the service provider. We will reduce this gap. The services will be streamlined. The toll free number 1912 will be strengthened. A dedicated ADE-level officer was appointed to handle consumer grievances. There are interruptions in power supply. This is due to maintenance of power lines. What are your plans to reduce interruptions in power supply? The discom has installed equipment to prevent interruptions in power supply. We identify outage feeder on a real time basis to improve power supply. We have also planned to replace the existing ordinary conductors by advanced imported covered conductors. It will reduce power supply interruptions. We will implement this on a pilot basis in Visakhapatnam. Are the applications for new connections cleared promptly? Yes. I noticed several applications for new connections pending with us. We are now attending to them. Some of the applications were kept pending for technical reasons. What is your main objective? My plan is to see all APEPDCL consumers get uninterrupted and quality power supply. We will achieve this. What are the core areas before you? The core areas are better services to consumers, strengthening of power supply network and infrastructure and improving the quality of our staff. Are any new ventures or projects coming up soon? We have planned to install 146 sub-stations in next 18 months. This will reduce voltage fluctuation and power interruptions. We have proposed indoor sub-stations in urban areas including Visakhapatnam and outdoor sub-stations in rural areas. Infrared meters will also be installed in next three months. Are there any information technology-enabled projects? Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) is being planned in sub-stations. It works on IT. Smart grids and smart meters are also planned. We will install smart meters in 1,000 houses on pilot basis. Remote-operated agricultural pump sets are also part of our plan. Do you have any ‘outsourcing’ plans? We will extend all our services through Mee-Seva centres. Consumers need not approach us for any service. They can go to the nearest Mee-Seva centre. This will reduce the burden on our staff. It will also help the consumers. We are also planning to launch a pilot programme of door-to-door collection of electricity bills at Rajam town in Srikakulam district. We are planning to use the Kaizala App, which helped government officials for group communication during the Krishna Pushkaram. The Kaizala App can help my staff too. Any plans to use social-networking platforms? Presently, we are not on Facebook and Twitter. We will explore these platforms too. What is present status of underground power supply network project for Vizag city? We will shortly go for tenders for the first phase of the project aided by the World Bank. What steps do you plan to take to check corruption? Corruption prevails everywhere. I hope the IT-enabled smart systems and awareness among the consumers about the ill effects of bribe will bring down corruption. We take action whenever we receive complaints from consumers. Antoine Bethea Jersey
Essar’s plea for duty exemption rejected
A day after the Supreme Court declined permission to Essar group promoter, Ravikant Ruia, to leave the country the company received a shock over electricity duty. On Wednesday the bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice A S Supehia in Gujarat high court dismissed an appeal filed by Essar Steel Ltd and Essar Power Ltd against a single-judge bench order holding the company liable to pay Rs1,038.27 crore towards electricity duty to the state government. Essar has been seeking electricity duty exemption for its power plant set up at Hazira for over two decades. But the government rejected its demand, as it sold power to other entities. The duty exemption was available only to captive power plants, the government maintained, and said Essar had not sought prior permission to set up the plant to meet the purpose of selling electricity. The state government had first refused Essar group’s claims for duty exemption on electricity in 2003, and asked it to pay more than Rs1,000 crore that was due. Essar group had then approached the high court. The court asked the company to make a representation to the government and decide the issue afresh. But in 2009, the government rejected Essar’s application, asking it to pay up Rs 1,038.27 crore. Essar group went to court again with the high court’s single-judge bench, in 2010, upholding the state government’s order. The group then appealed against the order, which was dismissed on Wednesday. The case history shows Essar Steel Ltd had sought permission and set up a 20 MW captive power plant at Hazira in 1990, and later upgraded its capacity to 30 MW. This captive plant was granted electricity duty exemption by the state government as per its policy, on both the occasions. The company later wanted to set up another captive power plant of 300 MW in Combined Cycle Mode and obtained due permission from the state government as well as the Centre. But with changes in electricity policy in the Centre in 1991-92, which allowed private participation in power generation, the group founded Essar Power Ltd to sell electricity to other entities. The company, however, continued to seek electricity duty exemption from the state government according to its scheme prevailing in the early 1990s. The government rejected Essar group’s claims in 2003 with the state energy department stating the company has been selling power to GEB, and therefore the benefit of a captive power company cannot be given to Essar. James Develin Jersey
Himachal cabinet decides to amend hydro policy 2006
Himachal Pradesh cabinet on Monday decided to amend the Hydropower Policy 2006 in respect to transfer of shares by Himachalis to non-Himachalis. Now Himachalis can sell or transfer 49% equity shares to non-Himachalis at any stage after allotment of projects upto 2 MW capacity and full disinvestment after two years of commissioning of the projects. In case of bona fide Himachalis, to whom projects upto 2 MW to 5 MW capacity are allotted, they can sell or transfer 51% equity share to non-Himachalis at any stage after allotment of projects and full disinvestment after two years of commissioning of the projects. However, subject to the condition (in both the above cases), it was decided to levy some appropriate fee for transfer of equity. The cabinet gave its nod to cancel four projects namely Joiner-II (3MW) in district Chamba, Kanda (0.80 MW) in district Sirmaur, Rawin (1 MW) in Shimla district and Chahod (2 MW) in district Mandi. It approved the Himachal Pradesh Miscellaneous Adventure Activities Rules, 2004, which, besides existing HP Aero Sports and River Rafting Rules, also would include miscellaneous adventure activities like river crossing, zorbing, hot air ballooning, skiing, trekking, rock climbing, bungee jumping, rolling balls or water balls and zipline among others. However the objections and suggestions with regard to rules would be invited from the general public before finalization. Cabinet approved amendments in section 3 of the Himachal Pradesh Tax on entry of goods into Local area Act, 2010. It also accorded approval to 100 units of free electricity per month to families affected by hydel projects as per subsidized tariff determined by Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (HPERC) from time to time with respect to local area development committees of the districts and the balance amount equivalent to quantum of subsidy with state government. This shall be done once in a year since the tariff is determined by HPERC. It was also decided to provide 35kg ration to the Above Poverty Line (APL) families in tribal areas. All three pulses would be provided to all ration card holders. Darius Slay Jersey