Lok Sabha Question No. 1633 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-28
Subject: Competitive Power Prices
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Bhola Singh, Sukanta Majumdar, Raja Amareshwara Naik, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1633 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.11.2019

## COMPETITIVE POWER PRICES

1633. SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR: SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK: SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has formed a high level group to make recommendations  for  changing  the  structure  and  system  of  power  sale  and purchase in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the steps being taken in this regard;
- (c) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  make  power  prices  competitive across the country in various States;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the steps being taken in this regard;
- (e) the  number  of  electricity  connections  provided  under  various  schemes across the country, State/UT-wise including Bulandshahr and Balangir district of Uttar Pradesh and Odisha respectively; and
- (f) the other steps being taken by the Government for self reliance and growth of power sector in the country?

## A N S W E R

THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  FOR  POWER,  NEW  & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

( SHRI  R.K. SINGH)

- (a) & (b) :    Ministry  of  Power,  Government  of    India,  has  formed  a    high  level group to study the present system of power purchase and sale under the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) including power trading. The group will also explore the system of power markets globally and make recommendations for changing the  structure  and  system  of  power  purchase  and  sale  in  the  country  including reforms  needed  to  encourage  investments,  efficiency  and  competitiveness  in power markets.

…………2.

(c)  &  (d)  :    As  per  the  provision  of  Electricity  Act,  2003,  Ministry  of  Power  has already  issued  Competitive  Bidding  Guidelines  for  long  term,  medium  term  and short term power procurement by Distribution Licensees. As mandated in Tariff Policy,  all  future  power  procurement  by  Distribution  Licensees  in  states  to  be done through tariff based competitive bidding only. In order to further optimize the cost of power procurement by state distribution licensees, a mechanism of national  load  merit  order  for  inter-state  generating  stations  has  also  been introduced.

(e) : Since  launch  of  the  Pradhan  Mantri  Sahaj  Bijli  Har  Ghar  Yojana  Saubhagya  on  11.10.2017,  about  2.628  crore  willing  un-electrified  households were electrified up to 31.03.2019 across the country including 1,35,881 households  of  Bulandshahr  district,  Uttar  Pradesh  and  1,83,  744  households  of Balangir district, Odisha. The State/UT-wise details are given at Annexure-I.

(f) : The various steps taken by Central Government for self reliance and growth of power sector in the country are given at Annexure-II.

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ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1633 TO BE ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 28.11.2019. ***************

State-wise  electrification  of  households  as  per  Saubhagya  portal  during  the period from ll.l0.2017 to 31.03.2019.

| Sl. NO   | Name of the States   | Number of houses electrified   |
|----------|----------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh       | 181,930                        |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh    | 47,089                         |
| 3        | Assam                | 1,745,149                      |
| 4        | Bihar                | 3,259,041                      |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh         | 749,397                        |
| 6        | Goa                  | -                              |
| 7        | Gujarat              | 41,317                         |
| 8        | Haryana              | 54,681                         |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh     | 12,891                         |
| 10       | Jammu & Kashmir      | 387,501                        |
| 11       | Jharkhand            | 1,530,708                      |
| 12       | Karnataka            | 356,974                        |
| 13       | Kerala               | -                              |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh       | 1,984,264                      |
| 15       | Maharashtra          | 1,517,922                      |
| 16       | Manipur              | 102,748                        |
| 17       | Meghalaya            | 199,839                        |
| 18       | Mizoram              | 27,970                         |
| 19       | Nagaland             | 132,507                        |
| 20       | Odisha               | 2,452,444                      |
| 21       | Puducherry           | 912                            |
| 22       | Punjab               | 3,477                          |
| 23       | Rajasthan            | 1,862,736                      |
| 24       | Sikkim               | 14,900                         |
| 25       | Tamil Nadu           | 2,170                          |
| 26       | Telangana            | 515,084                        |
| 27       | Tripura              | 139,090                        |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh        | 7,980,568                      |
| 29       | Uttarakhand          | 248,751                        |
| 30       | West Bengal          | 732,290                        |
|          | Total                | 26,284,350                     |

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ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (f) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1633 TO BE ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 28.11.2019.

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Steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  for  self  reliance  and  growth  of  Power Sector:

## A. Ensuring timely payments:

-  Ministry of Power has issued directions that power shall be scheduled for despatch only after it has been intimated to the Appropriate Load Despatch Centre i.e. NLDC/RLDC/SLDC that a Letter of Credit for the desired quantum of power has been opened. This will ensure timely payments and encourage investments in the sector.
- B. Promotion of Renewable Energy -
-  In  order  to  achieve  the  Renewable  target  of  175000  GW  of  renewable capacity  by  2022,  MOP  issued  Long  term  Growth  trajectory  Renewable purchase Obligation (RPO) for solar as well as Non-solar till the year 2022.
-  Competitive  Bidding  Guidelines  for  procurement  of  power  from  Soalr  and Wind projects has been issued.
-  Waiver of ISTS Transmission charges and losses for Solar and Wind based project extended upto December 2022.
- C. Measures to promote Hydro sector-
-  Large Hydropower Projects to be treated as Renewable Energy Source
-  Hydropower Purchase Obligation  (For new projects)
-  Flexibility in Tariff Determination
- D. Addressing issues of stressed thermal power plants:
-  Amendments in allocation of coal as per SHAKTI policy,
-  Increase  in  quantity  of  coal  for  e-Auction  for  power,  non-lapsing  of  short supplies of coal, ACQ based on efficiency,
-  Mandatory payment of Late Payment Surcharge (LPS),
-  Procurers are advised not to cancel PPA, FSA, transmission connectivity, Environment Clearance / Forest Clearance, and all other approvals including water,  even  if  the  project  is  referred  to  NCLT  or  is  acquired  by  another entity  subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  contracted  PPA  and/  or  applicable rules.

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