Lok Sabha Question No. 2545 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-22
Subject: Power Crisis in Punjab
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Harsimrat Kaur Badal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2545 ANSWERED ON 22.12.2022

## POWER CRISIS IN PUNJAB

2545.  SHRIMATI HARSIMRAT KAUR BADAL:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware of the on-going power crisis in Punjab and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Government is also aware of the long power outages being carried out because of shortage of power in Punjab and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has asked the State Government of Punjab to install prepaid power meters and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether other central assistance would be proposed to the State of Punjab and if so, the details thereof;

(e) whether the Government is aware of the fact that State Electricity Department do not have sufficient funds to operate power plants in the State which are shutting down and if so, the details thereof; and

(f) whether the Government proposes to help the State of Punjab to come out of the crisis and if so, the details thereof?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF POWER AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY

(SHRI R.K. SINGH)

(a) & (b) : As  per  the  Power  Supply  Position  prepared  by  the  Central  Electricity Authority for the State of Punjab for the last three years and the current year, given at Annexure-I, the overall power supply position in the State of Punjab is comfortable.

(c)  : Government  of  India  launched  Revamped  Distribution  Sector  Scheme (RDSS) in July, 2021 under which financial assistance is being provided to the eligible DISCOMs including Punjab for installation of pre-paid smart meters and system metering with  communication  features  by  March  2025.    The  number  of  prepaid  meters  for consumers  approved  for  Punjab  under  RDSS  is  8,784,807.    The  installation  of  meters including  pre-prepaid  smart  meters  falls  under  the  purview  of  respective  Distribution Companies (DISCOMs).

(d) : Under ongoing RDSS Scheme, funding is being provided for upgradation of distribution  infrastructure  including  IT  intervention  like  Supervisory  Control  and  Data Acquisition (SCADA/DMS) etc. in addition to smart metering works. For State of Punjab, under distribution infrastructure works for loss reduction projects of estimated cost of Rs.3,873.37  Cr.  have  been  sanctioned  with  a  Gross  Budgetary  Support  (GBS)  of Rs.2340.2 Cr.

(e) & (f) : The details of Program v/s Actual Generation of electricity in Punjab during the current year 2022-23 (upto October, 2022), are given at Annexure-II.  Total electricity generation in Punjab from State Sector Power Plants (Thermal and Hydro) is more than 100% of Generation Program for 2022-23 (upto October, 2022).  As, electricity being a concurrent subject, supply and distribution of electricity in a State/UT including Punjab is within the purview of the respective State Government/Power Utility. Making arrangement of appropriate quantum of power from various sources to meet the demand of  various  type  of  electricity  consumers  in  any  State/UT  is  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the concerned State Government/Power Utilities. The Central Government supports the State Governments  by  establishing  power  plants  in  Central  Sector  through  Central  Public Sector  Undertakings  (CPSUs)  and  allocating  power  from  them  to  the  various  States  / UTs.

Further, the Central Government also supplements the efforts of the States through  its  various  schemes  including  Deen  Dayal  Upadhyaya  Gram  Jyoti  Yojana (DDUGJY), Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) and Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) to help them to achieve the objective of providing uninterrupted power supply to all households.

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ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  &  (b)  OF  UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 2545 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 22.12.2022 **************

The details of Actual Power Supply Position of Punjab for the last three years i.e. from 2019-20 to 2021-22 and the current year i.e. 2022-23 (upto November, 2022)

| Year                          | ENERGY [in Million Units (MU)]   | ENERGY [in Million Units (MU)]   | ENERGY [in Million Units (MU)]   |
|-------------------------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
|                               | Energy Requirement               | Energy Supplied                  | Energy not Supplied              |
|                               | (MU)                             | (MU)                             | (%)                              |
| 2019-20                       | 56,776                           | 56,770                           | 0.0                              |
| 2020-21                       | 58,445                           | 58,377                           | 0.1                              |
| 2021-22                       | 62,846                           | 62,411                           | 0.7                              |
| 2022-23 (upto November, 2022) | 52,207                           | 52,028                           | 0.3                              |

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ANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (e)  &  (f)  OF  UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 2545 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 22.12.2022 **************

The details of Program v/s Actual Generation of electricity in Punjab during current year i.e. 2022-23 (upto October, 2022)

| State Sector Plants   | Energy Generation for 2022-23 [in Million Units (MU)]   | Energy Generation for 2022-23 [in Million Units (MU)]   | Energy Generation for 2022-23 [in Million Units (MU)]   |
|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
|                       | Program                                                 | Actual                                                  | % of Program                                            |
| Thermal               | 3,732                                                   | 4,180                                                   | 112 %                                                   |
| Hydro                 | 2,225                                                   | 2,025                                                   | 91 %                                                    |
| Total                 | 5,957                                                   | 6,205                                                   | 104 %                                                   |

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