Lok Sabha Question No. 4194 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-11
Subject: Advisory Committee for Power Issues
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: S.P. MUDDAHANUMEGOWDA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4194 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2016

## ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR POWER ISSUES

4194. SHRI S.P. MUDDAHANUME GOWDA:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Union  Government  has  set  up  any  Advisory  Committee  to discuss  the  issues  relating  to  power  sector  and  to  suggest  reforms,  if  so,  the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  said  committee  has  submitted  its  recommendations  to  the Government, if so, the salient features of the recommendations; and
- (c) the  steps  taken/being  taken  to  implement  the  recommendations  of  the committee?

## A N S W E R

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

( SHRI  PIYUSH GOYAL )

(a) & (b) : In order to expedite resolution of various issues related to Generation,  Transmission  and  Distribution  of  Power,  an  "Advisory  Group  for Integrated Development of Power, Coal and Renewable Energy"  was set up under the chairmanship of  Shri Suresh Prabhu (now Union Minister for Railways) in the year 2014. The Advisory Group has submitted its report on 22 nd  December, 2014.

The  report  of  the  Advisory  Group  covers  contemporary  issues  and challenges in respect of the Ministries of Power, Coal and Renewable Energy. The main recommendations of the Advisory Group, inter-alia, include enhancement of coal  production;  opening up  of  the coal sector; coal block auction; coal linkage rationalization; swapping of coal linkage; amendments to Electricity  Act,  Tariff Policy,  Standard  Bidding  Documents;  24X7 Power Supply; distribution sector reforms; improvement in working of Central Electricity Authority (CEA); accelerating hydro power projects; role of  Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO);  phasing  out  of  old  and  inefficient  thermal  power  plants;  large  scale capacity  addition  of  renewable  energy;  green  energy  transmission  corridors; incentivizing renewable capacity addition; obligating generating companies to set up  renewable  power  generation;  priority  in  purchase  of  renewable  power  by distribution utilities etc.

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

(c)  : The recommendations made by the Advisory Group contains various short, medium and long term measures. Steps have already been taken towards implementation of recommendations of the Advisory Group which, inter-alia,

## Coal:

-  Transparent auction of coal blocks;
-  100 % crushed coal supply by coal India to all power plants;
-  setting up of new washeries;
-  introduction of  3 rd  party sampling of coal;
-  incorporation of separate SPVs for implementation of three major critical rail projects;
-  MoU signed between Coal India Limited (CIL) and Ministry of Railways for procurement of 2000 railway wagons;
-  rationalisation of coal linkages for 17   thermal power plants;
-  guidelines regarding flexibility in utilization of domestic coal;

## Power:

## Generation

-  CEA has identified 57 power plants, which are more than 25 year old, for its conversion to Super Critical Technology;
-  collection of information for phasing out of old & inefficient thermal power plants by CEA;
-  formulation of state specific action plan for 24X7 Power for All;

## Transmission

-  The  Union  Cabinet  approved  formation  of  POSOCO  as  an  independent Government Company;
-  prepared 20 years perspective plan for transmission;

..........3.

## Distribution

-  introduced comprehensive reforms in  distribution sector by implementing Deen  Dayal  Upadhyaya  Gram  Jyoti  Yojana  (DDUGJY),  Integrated  Power Development Scheme (IPDS) and Ujwal Discoms Assurance Yojana (UDAY);

## Reforms & Energy Efficiency

-  formulated amendments in Electricity Act;
-  Tariff Policy notified;
-  amendments in the Standard Bidding Documents;
-  Perform Achieve and Trade(PAT) cycle-II started from April, 2016;
-  under  demand  side  management  national  LED  programme  launched  for domestic LED and LED street lighting;

## Renewable Energy:

-  implementation of green energy corridors;
-  the potential for renewable energy have been reassessed to 1096 GW and a target for renewable energy has been increased to 175 GW by 2022;
-  enhancement of solar Renewable Purchase Obligation  (RPO) to 8% or  as fixed by Central Government by March, 2020;
-  introduction of Renewable Generation Obligation (RGO) for new Coal/Lignite based thermal plants;
-  ensuring affordable renewable power through bundling of renewable power;
-  no inter-state transmission charges and losses for solar and wind power;
-  reintroduced Accelerated Depreciation (AD) benefit for wind power;
-  a policy for repowering of wind power projects.

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