‘We will boost power generation capacity on a priority basis’
The unparalleled electricity grid collapse on two consecutive days last week, affecting millions, shocked the world. How do you personally react to it?
We will get to the bottom of it. An enquiry is on. No one will be spared. But we cannot say there are no parallels. Similar crises occurred in Pakistan and the United States. They took four or five days to fix the trouble, while we restored supply within a day. But I can assure the country that such a thing won’t be repeated. Is it true that overdrawal of power from the grid by some states may not be the only reason for the grid collapse?
I don’t want to get into these aspects. I have convened a meeting of eight chief ministers from all the grid states and a Union Territory on August 6. Ultimately, collaboration is necessary as everybody will suffer if such a crisis recurs. Conforming to the power code is quite essential. We will have to work with a value system. Your predecessor Sushilkumar Shinde had singled out Uttar Pradesh for the grid collapse. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav reacted by saying that though his party had supported the UPA on the Indo-US nuclear deal, your government is not keeping its commitment on coal linkages to upcoming power stations in his state. What does this mean?
We need to have a holistic view on all these things. There are issues regarding boosting power generation capacity which I will look into on a priority basis. I will try to remove the bottlenecks. It has to be a win-win game for all. What long-term measures can help avert such a collapse in future?
First, we do need to maintain grid discipline. States cannot continue to overdraw despite reminders. They must appreciate that a crisis affects everyone and impacts the country’s image. We also have to get other things right, for example reducing transmission and distribution (T&D) losses. This averages 26-28 per cent nationally. We need to bring it down to 10-12 per cent. I will keep a vigil on T&D losses with reviews every three months. Each state must cut T&D losses. That will conserve 25-30 per cent of the energy and the saved energy will be available to the grid. That is the first priority.
Also, we have a number of projects at various stages of completion. By taking a few steps we can definitely commission them and ensure that they start producing power in all the areas — hydro, thermal, gas and nuclear. We need to get into the micro aspect of this. I would like to say that every three months we will have a certain addition to power generation through fixing of targets. I will get into every project and address its problems.
As for tariff, there are well laid out rules now, and state electricity boards have started raising the tariff, which is good. When you speak of maintaining grid discipline, can’t a state be isolated from the grid if it overdraws?
It is not as simple as it looks. It is just like saying starve a person if he misbehaves. That is why I am calling the chief ministers, and plan to tell them that discipline pays for them too. Otherwise, it will be difficult to assure them consistent supply.
Can’t the government force a state to go to the open market to buy electricity instead of giving it the opportunity to overdraw? When a state is close to its drawing limit, can’t it be stopped through technology?
It can be stopped. But, the question is who will do the stopping? At what cost? It is not only a political matter, it is also a question of necessity. Usage of extra power for irrigation in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab due to the current rainfall deficit may have been one of the reasons for the grid collapse. Can you earmark power, especially for such purposes, which, in fact, has been suggested by the Prime Minister?
There is no provision at present to respond particularly to the needs of rain-starved area. We need to work out a special mechanism by which