Lok Sabha Question No. 4278 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-11
Subject: Access to Electricity
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: PRATHAP SIMHA, GEETHA KOTHAPALLI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4278 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2016

## ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY

4278.  SHRI PRATHAP SIMHA: SHRIMATI KOTHAPALLI GEETHA:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

(a) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  300  million  people  in  the  country  do  not  have access to electricity, power cuts are rampant and per capita power consumption is significantly lower than the world average, if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the country is likely to experience the energy surplus of 1.1 per cent  during  the  current  financial  year  as  per  the  2016-17  report  of  the  Central Electricity Authority, if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether  only  people  who  are  connected  to  the  grid  and  have  access  to electricity  at  present  are  taken  into  consideration  while  calculating  power demand and which is the reason for energy surplus, if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether  the  State  Discoms  are  unable  to  buy  power  due  to  their  poor financial health, if so, the details thereof and the corrective measures being taken to improve their financial status; and

(e) whether  Government  proposes  for  a  robust  power  pricing  mechanism  in coming days, if so, the details thereof?

A N S W E R

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

( SHRI  PIYUSH GOYAL )

(a) : As  per  census  2011,  out  of  total  24,67,40,228  households  in  the country,  16,59,35,192  households  were  using  electricity  as  the  main  source  of lighting.

The  per  capita  consumption  of  electricity  in  India  is  less  than  the global average. As reported on International Energy Agency (IEA) website, the per capita electricity consumption in the country and Global Average is given under:

| Year    |   Per Capita Consumption of India (Kwh) |   Global Average Per Capita Consumption (Kwh)* |
|---------|-----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| 2011-12 |                                     884 |                                           2972 |
| 2012-13 |                                     914 |                                           3026 |

*  Basic  data  obtained  from  IEA  website  except  India.  Data  of  global  average  is from January to December.

..........2.

(b) : As  per  the  Load  Generation  Balance  Report  (LGBR)  for  the  year 2016-17,  published  by  the    Central  Electricity  Authority  (CEA),  the  energy availability in the country is likely to be in excess of energy requirement by about 1.1% during the year as per details given below.

| ENERGY      | ENERGY       | ENERGY                    | ENERGY                    | PEAK        | PEAK     | PEAK                     | PEAK                     |
|-------------|--------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|-------------|----------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
| Requirement | Availability | Surplus (+) / Deficit (-) | Surplus (+) / Deficit (-) | Peak Demand | Peak Met | Surplus (+) / Deficit(-) | Surplus (+) / Deficit(-) |
| (MU)        | (MU)         | (MU)                      | (%)                       | (MW)        | (MW)     | (MW)                     | (%)                      |
| 1,214,642   | 1,227,895    | 13,252                    | 1.1                       | 165,253     | 169,503  | 4,250                    | 2.6                      |

- (c) : No, Madam. The unconnected households, which are planned to be connected  to  the  electricity  grid  during  the  year  by  the  respective  State Governments,  are also considered in the projections made by the state utilities for assessing energy requirement for the forthcoming year.

(d) : A  scheme  namely  Ujwal  Discom  Assurance  Yojana  (UDAY)  was notified  by  Ministry  of  Power  on  20.11.2015  for  Operational  and  Financial Turnaround  of  Power  Distribution  Companies  (DISCOMs)  with  an  objective  to improve  the  operational  and  financial  efficiency  of  State  owned  DISCOMs. Participating States would  undertake  to achieve operational and financial turnaround  of  DISCOMs  with  the  measures  outlined  in  the  Scheme.  Two  new schemes have also been launched by the Government of India, namely, Deendayal Upadhyaya  Gram  Jyoti  Yojana  (DDUGJY)  and  Integrated  Power  Development Scheme  (IPDS)  for  strengthening  of  sub-transmission  and  distribution  networks and for segregation of agricultural feeders to give adequate and reliable supply and reduce line losses. These will also strengthen the DISCOMs financially.

(e) : As per the Electricity Act, 2003, the tariff for power is determined by the  appropriate  Commission.      The  following  initiatives  have  been  taken  for efficient pricing of power:-

- i. Ministry of Power, Government of India has notified the revised Tariff Policy on  28.01.2016  with  the  objective,  inter  alia,  to  ensure  availability  of electricity to consumers at reasonable and competitive rates.
- ii. To  bring  the  competitiveness  and  transparency,  Discovery  of  Efficient Electricity Price (DEEP) portal has been launched for procurement of power for short term by the power utilities.
- iii. The  flexibility  in  utilization  of  domestic  coal  has  been  introduced  which aims at reduction in cost of power.
- iv. Transmission  system  has  been  augmented  to  achieve  transfer  of  power from surplus region to the deficit region thus reducing the power purchase cost.

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