Lok Sabha Question No. 317 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-19
Subject: Provision of Electricity
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: NARANBHAI KACHHADIA, CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, RAMDAS CHANDRABHANJI TADAS

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.317

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.07.2018

## PROVISION OF ELECTRICITY

†317. SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA: SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI: SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS:

Will the Minister of POWER

be  pleased  to  state  the  measures  taken  by  the  Union  Government  to provide cheaper electricity particularly to common people and industrial units  at  affordable  prices  during  the  last  three  years  along  with  the outcome thereof?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY

( SHRI  R. K. SINGH )

Electricity is a concurrent subject. Supply and Distribution of electricity at affordable rate to all category of consumers in a State/ UT falls within the purview of respective State Government/State Regulatory Commission and State Power Utility(ies).

The Government of India supplement the efforts of the State Governments through various measures for improvement in power sector to  provide  reliable  and  affordable  electricity  to  all  consumers  including common  people  and  industrial  units.  The  measures  taken  by  the  Union Government during last three years are given at Annexure.

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## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 317 TO BE ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 19.07.2018.

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In  line  with  the  spirit  of  the  Electricity  Act,  2003  various measures  have  been  taken  by  the Union Government  to  facilitate electricity to all consumers at affordable prices. The measures taken by the Union government during last three years includes:

- i. 'DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price)' e-Bidding Portal has been  launched  on  12th   April,  2016  in  order  to  bring  uniformity  and transparency  in  power  procurement  by  the  DISCOMs  and  also  to promote competition in electricity sector.
- ii. The  Government  on  4th  May,  2016  has  notified  the  "Flexibility  in utilization of domestic coal for reducing the cost of power generation". The State can use their coal and take equivalent power from  any  other  efficient  generating  stations  at  a  cheaper  cost  as compared to the cost of generation from their own power stations. An  e-bidding  portal  was  launched  on  5 th   July  2017  for  providing  eBidding  solution  to  States  to  select  Independent  Power  Producers (IPPs) for procurement of power by transferring their domestic coal under the scheme of flexibility in utilization of domestic coal.
- iii. A  Web  Portal  'MERIT'  i.e.  Merit  Order  Despatch  of  Electricity  for Rejuvenation  of  Income  and  Transparency  was  launched  on  23rd June 2017 .This Mobile App and Web Portal displays the actual data of  dispatched  generation  by  the  states  transparently  and  provides opportunity to states for improving their power purchase portfolio.
- iv. Mobile  Application  named  'Vidyut  PRAVAH'  was  launched  on  31st March,  2016  to  provide  highlights  of  the  power  availability  and prevailing rate in the Power Exchange on real time basis.
- v. A mechanism for providing flexibility in Generation and Scheduling of Thermal Stations to reduce Emissions has been issued on 05.04.2018.  Under  the  mechanism  thermal  power  stations  can  use RE Power to meet the existing contractual commitments. Net gains arising out of such mechanism  shall  be shared  between  the Generator and Beneficiary of power station.

- vi. Government  of  India  on  17.5.2017  approved  SHAKTI  scheme  for harnessing  &  allocating  coal  transparently  in  India.  Coal  linkage have been granted under B(i) provisions of SHAKTI policy to Central & State Generating companies at the notified price for 10 Projects of total  8870  MW  capacity.  Further  under  B(ii)  provision  of  SHAKTI Policy,  coal  linkages  to  independent  power  producers  (IPPs)  with PPAs based on domestic coal have been granted to 10 projects of total  11549  MW  capacity,  based  on  bidding  on  discount  on  quoted Tariff. Lower cost of power will provide benefits to the consumers.
- vii. The Government has started Third Party Sampling of Coal at both, loading and unloading end of Generators. There has been considerable improvement in the quality of coal supplied by the Coal India Limited.  Due to improvement in coal quality and improvement in  the  efficiency  of  plants, there  has  been  a  reduction  in  specific coal consumption by coal based thermal power plants thus reducing the cost of power generation.
- viii. To  promote  competitive  procurement  of  electricity  from  Solar  PV power plants and Wind power Plants, competitive bidding guidelines have been issued on 03.08.2017 and on 08.12.2017 respectively for long term procurement of electricity.

These  measures  are  aimed  to  lower  the  cost  of  electricity generation,  increasing  transparency  in  power  procurement,  improving efficiency and  ultimately lower the cost of electricity for the end consumers.

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