Modi Govt to Make India Generator, Inverter Free Nation

In order to fulfil Narendra Modi led government’s promise to provide 24 hr power supply to every home, factory and farm, the Centre has prepared a detailed roadmap in consultation with states to make India “diesel generator and inverter free” in the next 5 years.

India’s Power minister Piyush Goyal said “Development of power generation sector alone cannot ensure 24x7 power supply without matching development of transmission and distribution (T&D) sectors and involvement of the states is vital.

Losses in transmission are the bane of the power sector in India. Up to 40% of power generated is lost in distribution. India needs to bring down transmission and distribution losses to 15% at the national level. The Centre set targets for each state to bring down T&D losses, and decided to reward those states for achieving targets.

The Centre has also decided to speed up clearances for coal and power projects on land and environment, expeditious allotment of hydro projects and putting in place state-specific solar power policy besides correcting imbalances in state transmission and distribution systems.

Power generation has also been given state-specific strategy. For instance, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat among others were asked to focus on solar power, while Arunachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand were asked to exploit the available hydro potential.

The Centre has roped in international funding agencies and banks such as the World Bank for help; the thrust is on bringing down distribution losses and improving infrastructure, apart from focusing on solar power.

India’s total installed power generation capacity in all modes stands at 250,000 MW. Of this, only about 140,000 MW is actually available because of coal and gas shortages and sub-optimal capacity utilisation.

Solar power capacity is just 2,750 MW, which the Modi government is hoping to increase to 100,000 MW in the next five years.