States asked to maintain adequate coal to meet rising energy demand
Nov 08, 2023
New Delhi [India], November 8 : States were advised to maintain adequate coal stock to meet the rising energy demand during April-June of 2024, at the just-held National Conference of Power and Renewable Energy Ministers of States and Union territories here in the national capital.
Stating that the demand in India can go up by 250 GW, states are asked to make sure to have enough coal and use this intervening period to build up stock.
"While Coal India and other domestic sources including captive mines have increased supplies, this did not prove to be sufficient because of the unprecedented increase in electricity demand. Any shortfall must be made up by blending imported coal," the Ministry of Power said in a release Wednesday, a day after the two-day meeting concluded.
The states were advised to expedite the commissioning of conventional and renewable energy projects, besides planning for capacity addition.
Among other, shifting the agricultural load to solar hours was also discussed during the course of the meeting.
"States should develop a plan during the next two to three months to optimize the mix of solar and non-solar hours power," the power ministry said.
Noting that modern India does not resort to load shedding, the central government said the state power generation companies should endeavour to run their power plants at full capacity.
"Maintenance /overhaul of power plants must be completed before Feb'24 so that all plants are available during March to June...It was also emphasized to expedite the commissioning of ongoing projects and planning for environmental and other clearances and land availability to be initiated on an immediate basis for all upcoming generation projects," the ministry added.
Moreover, in view of the ambitious energy transition targets, States were advised to form State-level committees on energy transition under the Chief Secretary to fast-track decision-making and achievement of set goals.
Delivering the closing remarks and expressing satisfaction with the outcomes of the conference Tuesday, the Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh told the power ministers of States that it would be desirable to hold such a conference once every quarter.
Outlining the roadmap for the same, the Minister said that the first necessary step is to fix the electricity tariff regularly, which means that it has to be fixed at the beginning of March of every year before the financial year begins.
Second, the tariff has to be cost-reflective. States can give whatever subsidy they want, but the subsidy has to be paid for.
The Union Power and NRE Minister said that all government departments must be put on a prepaid system, which will thereby ensure payments from government departments automatically.
"Ministers and senior officers of states should regularly review and monitor the performance of discoms and generation companies to see that the energy accounts have been prepared, billing efficiency is above 87 per cent, and collection efficiency is above 97 per cent. Only then will accountability come into the system and the system will get maintained and get better," Singh added.
