Rajeev Chandrasekhar's official website - Member of Parliament

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Ministry of Power 

RAJYA SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 109
ANSWERED ON MARCH 09, 2015 

QUESTION
Measures to Meet Power Deficit

 

109. SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR 

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state; 

(a)   whether it is a fact that the country’s power deficit includes 30,000 MW shortage due to the repair work of the existing power plants; 

(b)   Government’s proposal for upgradation and maintenance of the existing State-owned power plants, in the light of above facts and Government's plan of expecting $250 billion in the power sector; 

(c)    the details of loss to the exchequer due to distribution losses and power theft; and 

(d)   the steps being taken by Government to prevent such losses? 

 

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
FOR POWER, COAL AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
 

 

(a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. 

                                                                                                                                            STATEMENT 

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.109 TO BE ANSWERED IN THE RAJYA SABHA ON 09.03.2015 REGARDING MEASURES TO MEET POWER DEFICIT. 

(a) & (b): No, Sir. The peak power shortage in the country as reported by States during the current year (April, 2014 to January, 2015) was 7,006 MW (4.7%) and during the month of January, 2015, it is only 4,261 MW (3.1%). The capacity of power plants under repair varies on day to day basis and includes power plants under planned maintenance. Presently, as on 21stFebruary, 2015, 6,114 MW capacity of power plants is under planned maintenance. 2,479.9 MW of State owned power generating capacity is presently under renovation and modernisation. 

Government of India has recently taken various initiatives to attract investment in all segments of the power sector, including in the renewable energy sector. 

(c): Based on data on annual accounts submitted by the State Power Utilities, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) has published the ''Report on Performance of State Power Utilities'' covering the Performance of State Power Utilities for the years 2010-11 to 2012-13, the aggregate losses (after tax on accrual basis) incurred by all utilities selling directly to consumers was Rs.69,108 crores during 2012-13. 

These losses include, inter-alia, distribution losses including theft of electricity, gap between average cost of supply and average revenue realization, inadequate metering, and poor billing & collection efficiency, etc. 

(d): Electricity being a concurrent subject, the supply and distribution of electricity falls under the purview of respective State Government / State Power Utility. It is the responsibility of distribution licensees to provide reliable power supply in its area of operation and take action to reduce the distribution losses including power theft. 

The Central Government supplements the efforts of States through various schemes. Recently, Government of India has approved the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) and Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) to provide funds for improvement of urban and rural distribution infrastructure. Financial assistance under these schemes is also linked to reduction in Aggregate Transmission & Commercial losses.

 

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