41st Meeting of the Standing Committee on safety in Coal Mines, Delhi

Meeting with Shri Babul Supriyo to discuss BHEL-MOP

Hon’ble Minister at Inaugration of Chatrabhuj Narsee School in Mumbai.

Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), a state-owned power distribution company in Haryana, has eliminated losses for the first time ever since its inception. The discom, which reported losses of more than Rs 2,088 crore in 2014, has registered a profit of Rs 78 crore in the first half of the current financial year, Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday (20 December).

Established in July 1999, the company has always recorded losses worth Rs 2,000 crore or more, resulting from electricity theft, non-payment of dues, transmission and distribution losses and increasing fuel surcharge. Having turned its fate, the company now plans to double the profit by the end of the current financial year.

With an intent to find a permanent solution to the financial mess that the power distribution in India is in, the Ministry of Power had launched Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY). Improving operational efficiencies of discoms such as DHBVN is the primary objective of UDAY, and it seems that the scheme is making a difference.

The Minister of State with independent charge for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy Mr. Piyush Goyal had lauded UDAY as a truly collaborative effort between the Centre and the states. When UDAY was launched, there was a lot of skepticism in the mainstream media and in the financial press around the scheme being yet another attempt to recapitalize loss-making businesses with no accountability.

India will invest Rs127 billion on lines to transmit power from solar parks to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of boosting clean energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022.

The dedicated transmission lines, part of the so-called green corridor project, will transmit 20 gigawatts of power capacity from 34 solar parks across 21 states, the government said Wednesday in a series of reports commissioned by minister for power, coal and mines Piyush Goyal. The reports were written by Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd to develop plans to integrate renewable energy on the national grid.

The green-energy corridor is part of the country’s plans to boost transmission capacity to enable a seamless flow of electricity from clean electricity producing states to consuming states that face power shortages. New lines will also help manage intermittency challenges of renewable energy, especially as clean sources increase their share of power generation to almost 50% in some states.

The inter-state portion of the transmission investments will cost Rs80 billion, while intra-state lines will require another Rs47.45 billion, according to the government.

India will receive a soft loan of about €1billion for the corridor’s development from the German development bank KfW, Goyal informed India’s lower house of Parliament last week.

Intra-state transmission under the plan will be funded through a 20% equity state held by the state government, 40% in the form of a grant from the National Clean Energy Fund and the soft loan accounting for the remaining 40%.

The inter-state transmission schemes are to be funded as 30% equity by Power Grid Corp. and 70% as a soft loan, according to Goyal.

India will invest Rs127 billion on lines to transmit power from solar parks to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of boosting clean energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022.

The dedicated transmission lines, part of the so-called green corridor project, will transmit 20 gigawatts of power capacity from 34 solar parks across 21 states, the government said Wednesday in a series of reports commissioned by minister for power, coal and mines Piyush Goyal. The reports were written by Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd to develop plans to integrate renewable energy on the national grid.

The green-energy corridor is part of the country’s plans to boost transmission capacity to enable a seamless flow of electricity from clean electricity producing states to consuming states that face power shortages. New lines will also help manage intermittency challenges of renewable energy, especially as clean sources increase their share of power generation to almost 50% in some states.

The inter-state portion of the transmission investments will cost Rs80 billion, while intra-state lines will require another Rs47.45 billion, according to the government.

India will receive a soft loan of about €1billion for the corridor’s development from the German development bank KfW, Goyal informed India’s lower house of Parliament last week.

Intra-state transmission under the plan will be funded through a 20% equity state held by the state government, 40% in the form of a grant from the National Clean Energy Fund and the soft loan accounting for the remaining 40%.

The inter-state transmission schemes are to be funded as 30% equity by Power Grid Corp. and 70% as a soft loan, according to Goyal.

Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has distributed over 1.4 crore LED bulbs across the 30 districts of Karnataka. The distribution has led to a saving of Rs. 729 crore annually in consumer bills.

The price of LED bulbs under the UJALA programme has been lowered to Rs. 65 per 9W LED bulb.

The bulbs are made available in Karnataka under the Hosa Belaku programme. The 9W LED bulbs can now be procured at the revised, lower rates at the following locations: BESCOM corporate office, KR Circle, Bengaluru One centres, Karnataka One centres at Hubballi, Dharwad, Gulbarga, Mysuru, Ballari, Davanagere, Belgavi, Gadag, Tumkuru, Shimoga and major post offices in Bengaluru.

EESL, under the Ministry of Power, is the execution agency for this scheme and has advised the consumers not to pay more than Rs. 65 per bulb.

Met with Shri A K Saseendran, Minister for Transport, Kerala