Power distribution company Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has recorded a profit for first time ever since its inception in July 1999. From losses of more than  2,088 crore in 2014, the discom registered a profit of 78 crore in the first half of the current financial year. Now, DHBVN officials aim to double the profit by the end of current financial year.

In comparison, Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) has reported a loss of 1,233 crore in the first half of financial year 2016-17 against a loss of 336 crore in the last financial year, reported an analysis by Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC).

DHBVN has been reeling under losses worth crores ever since it was created along with UHBVN and two corporations – Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam and Haryana Power Generation Corporation (HPGC).

DHBVN supplies power to 11 districts of southern Haryana and has always recorded losses worth 2,000 crore or more due to electricity theft, non-payment of dues, transmission and distribution losses and increasing fuel surcharge.

A half-yearly analysis by REC, under Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), has revealed that DHBVN reported a remarkable achievement with a turnaround from losses as steep as 471 crore in last financial year to a profit of more than 78 crore.

The review was conducted to ascertain the progress of various major operational and financial indicators as per UDAY on the basis of data submitted by discoms and visits by UDAY teams. The analysis report, released early this month, pointed out that the state incurred a loss of 815 crore in financial year 2015-16 for both discoms combined and gave a loss projection of 2,911 crore and ?1,878 crore for 2016-17 and 2017-18 respectively.

The review commended DHVBN for turnaround from loss to profit.

“We focused on replacing old and defective electric meters, placing meters outside buildings, meter sealing, check on thefts, increasing number of feeders, recovery of pending amounts and controlling transmission and distribution losses through various means. We hope to double the profit by the end of this financial year,” said Arun Kumar Verma, managing director, DHBVN.

REC also observed that DHBVN has improved on billing efficiency and reduced aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses while UHBVN is falling short on this front as well.

In its review, the REC observed that a major cause of concern in Haryana was high average cost of supply (ACS) that is 8.37 per unit in current financial year as against the national average of 6.66 per unit.

The analysis observed high incidents of electricity theft in the state as the cost of energy not billed (energy lost) is 1.85 per unit.

When some states were busy finding faults in the rural electrification program of the Centre, Union Minister Piyush Goyal was holding brainstorming sessions with his team at the power ministry and PSUs (including PFC and REC) on how to track and map the process of electrification in every village and household of this country.

The result of this few month long exercise was the launch of GARV II mobile App on Tuesday by Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal.

As a result, village electrification is no longer about tracking electrification of 18,452 villages in the country.

In line with the government’s promise to provide Power To All households in the country, people from the comfort of their homes and through their mobiles can track progress on household electrification in each of the habitations of about 6 lakh villages in India using the GARV II App.

Explaining the features of the ‘GARV-II’ app, Goyal said that the data in respect of about 6 lakh villages, with more than 15 lakh habitations having 17 crore people, has been mapped for tracking progress on household electrification in each of the habitations of these villages.

This is a remarkable progress over the previous GARV App as in the earlier version of the ‘GARV’ App, launched in October 2015 for the effective and efficient monitoring of village electrification programme, the data of only 18,452 un-electrified villages had been mapped and a 12-stage milestone-based monitoring mechanism was put in place.

Goyal further said that this app is an important part of the ‘Digital India Initiative’ of Government of India and will contribute in further development of the villages.

Further, the Minister informed that the status of village-wise works sanctioned under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and release of funds to the Statesfor these projects has also been mapped in ‘GARV-II’ to monitor progress of works in each village.

The progress is required to be updated by the implementing agencies of the States on day to day basis.

All data would be made available in public domain to ensure transparency, enhance accountability of various stakeholders and facilitate view of near real time progress.

In order to bring more transparency, the Minister asked the Power Ministry officials to place more details regarding discoms, tenders and contracts in public domain.

For places, where internet facilities are not available, Goyal suggested to publish information regarding rural electrification projects like contractor’s name, amount sanctioned by the Government, deadline of the project etc. to be put on boards on the working sites in villages. This will help people in better monitoring of Government’s work, he added.

The government is working with banks and international companies to ramp up point-of-sale (PoS) machines for cash transactions, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. “We are certainly working with the banks and also with the international companies to see how we can ramp up PoS machines,” the Coal and Power Minister said in New Delhi. He was speaking during ‘Digital Economy Forum 2016’. He further said that personally he felt that six months down the road PoS would gradually become irrelevant and may be two years down the road a new PoS machine would not be even required.

Piyush Goyal also added that smartphone today has become a PoS machine. Replying to a question he said, that “RBI was the one who decided it (demonetisation). RBI was the one who worked on this and I am sure that Prime Minister and Finance Minister would have been the one who would have taken the final decision (on demonetisation).

The minister further said that the government would certainly take steps to ensure that more money is pushed into the rural economy and “into the system faster in the rural areas”. On Tuesday some bankers were saying that the growth in digital transactions is to the tune of 300 per cent in the last two to three weeks.”

Rural households having no electricity connection despite their village having connected to the grid will now be able to register complaints directly to central and state authorities through a mobile phone application.

The application, GARV II launched by Union power minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday will also in the near future give out to the public all details of the electrification contracts given to private players including the work assigned, cost and the deadline in a bid to increase transparency in the government’s village electrification programme and check apathy by local officials.

“For places where Internet facilities are not available, information regarding rural electrification projects such as contractor’s name, amount sanctioned by the government and deadline have to be displayed on the working sites in villages,” Goyal said, adding that this will help in better monitoring of the work.

The minister said the application provides data on the progress of electrification in 600,000 villages with 170 million people, unlike its earlier version that gave data on only 18,452 villages identified in April, 2015 for electrification.

State governments consider every grid-connected village as electrified, even if there is a lack of last mile connectivity. GARV II seeks to address this.

Dinesh Arora, executive director of Rural Electrification Corp. (REC) in-charge of the village lighting programme said that a complaint filed through the mobile application will go to state authorities concerned and will alert the central government authorities. “If the complaint is not resolved within a specified period, the system will throw up alerts,” explained Arora.

Under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), so far, 61% of the 18,452 villages identified in April, 2015 have been connected to the grid. The focus now is to make sure every household gets access to power.

Goyal urged states to make sure that all households whether belonging to below poverty line or not, get access to power. While the poor gets free connections, the minister said that those above poverty line could pay the initial cost in instalments with financial help from central utilities like REC.

In its bid to harness the green energy potential, Odisha plans to set up solar panels on rooftops of government buildings in 15 key towns.

“Odisha is betting big on non-conventional sources of energy. The state government has approved a proposal for taking up rooftop installations on the government buildings in 15 key towns,” said an official.

The towns identified are Rourkela, Burla, Sambalpur, Hirakud, Balasore , Bhadrak, Baripada, Berhampur, Chakradharpur, Koraput, Sunabeda, Nabarangpur, Khurda and Puri.
The Green Energy Development Company Ltd (Gedcol), the nodal agency for implementation of renewable energy projects, will implement 10 megawatts (Mw) rooftop projects at a cost of around Rs 80 crore by 2017-18, added the official.

Recently, the Odisha government has signed implementation agreement with Azure Power Mercury Pvt Ltd for developing the country’s first grid-connected Mw scale rooftop project on the net metering basis. It will be a four Mw project to be set up on about 190 government buildings in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. The green energy project will attract around Rs 35 crore private investment and will be implemented by availing central financial assistance through Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Odisha receives an average solar radiation of 5.5kWh/sqm area with an average capacity utilisation factor ranging from 15 to 17 per cent across the districts, and around 300 clear sunny days every year.

The state government targets to generate 70 Mw exclusively from rooftop solar projects by 2022.
The state government, in its newly approved Renewable Energy Policy-2016, plans to add 2200 Mw capacity of solar energy by 2022.

This year, the state power regulator- Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) has allowed Rs 30 crore in the annual revenue requirement (ARR) of bulk power purchaser Gridco for 2016-17 exclusively towards the purchase of additional quantum of renewable energy.

By K K Shankar New Delhi, Dec 29 (PTI) Green seems to be the catchword for the government heading into the next year as it gears up to achieve 175 gigawatt of clean energy by 2022 through auction of 1,000 MW of rooftop solar power, Rs 13,000 crore investment in solar parks and a Rs 21,000-crore package to boost local manufacturing of panels.

By all yardsticks, 2016 remains a watershed year when solar tariff slumped to Rs 4 per unit and wind projects received a major thrust. The government is set to switch gears in 2017 to make India a hub for one of the largest installations of clean energy sources by 2022. Minister for New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal offered a glimpse of things to come while speaking to PTI. Scaling up of rooftop solar programme, scheme to encourage domestic manufacturing of solar panels and making wind power affordable through auction of sites all fill up a packed 2017. His ministry has in its sight Rs 1 lakh crore investment for the sector and is looking at 20 GW of power generation from non-conventional sources in 2017-18.

Beginning with speeding up the tempo for solar panel installation at homes, schools and hospitals through subsidies in 2016, plans are afoot to expand the rooftop programme to government buildings by providing target-based incentives. In the November auction of 500 MW, subsidies for installation of as much as 432.7 MW of rooftop solar capacity were lapped up by 122 developers. A fresh tender for one gigawatt (1,000 MW) is now in the works. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is eyeing generation of 100 GW from solar power alone by 2022. Rooftop solar capacity almost doubled to 1,000 MW in 2016 and the aim is to take this to 40 GW. Also on the table is a green corridor to transmit 2,000 MW of power from 34 solar panels across 21 states.

For good measure, Goyal said, a scheme to promote domestic manufacturing of solar panels will become a reality in 2017. The Rs 21,000-crore module aims to create 5 GW of photovoltaic manufacturing capacity by 2019 and 20 GW by 2026. Indias renewable energy generation capacity stands at 45 GW. According to Goyal, wind power is up next after successful reduction in solar tariff through transparent auction of sites. A mobility scheme is on the anvil to achieve 100 per cent electric vehicle-based transportation for India by 2030, he said without giving out specifics. Early next year, the ministry will organise Global RE- Invest 2017 India-ISA Partnership, the second edition of the bi-ennial Renewable Energy Investors Meet and Expo to bring in investors.

The event will build on RE-Invest 2015 and explore the advances to help meet Indias ultimate target of adding 175 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal will launch the web portal and a Mobile App for one of India’s most talked about scheme—-or the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) for operational and financial turnaround of state power distribution companies.

Financial health of state power DISCOMs has been a big blot on the performance of state’s power sector and in order to make these DICSOMs financially viable and operationally sustainable, the scheme UDAY assumes a lot of significance.

The App and the web portal, to be launched by Goyal on Wednesday (January 4, 2017), will provide all details on the scheme including the number of states joining the scheme as also the progress achieved by each state under various parameters listed under the scheme—-including AT&C losses, cost of electricity, bonds issued and others.

In fact, the ministry of power has already made all agreements on UDAY that it has so far inked with the 18 states. The new portal and the app will detail the exact progress being achieved by every state under the scheme.

UDAY has been one of the most talked about schemes and has been designed to wipe out the operational and financial mess of these DISCOMs, accumulated over the years.

Also on the side lines of the ceremony to launch the two apps, two more MoUs for UDAY would be signed with the States of Assam and Telangana, thereby taking the total tally of states joining the scheme to 20.

UDAY scheme was launched on November 20, 2015 and India has already got its first state power distribution company that has been able to eliminate its losses after joining within 10 months of joining UDAY.
The DHBVN or Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam—- one of the two state power distribution companies of Haryana that joined the UDAY scheme on March 11, 2016 has not just been able to completely wipe out its losses for the first time but has also posted a profit of Rs 201.35 crore in the first half of the current financial year (2016-17) as against a loss of Rs 479 crore last financial year (2015-16).

Haryana state has two DISCOMs namely UHBVNL and DHBVNL had joined UDAY on 11-Mar- 2016. While the state had incurred a loss of Rs 815 cr in 2015-16 for both DISCOMs combined and had given loss projections of Rs. 2911Crs for 2016-17, Rs. 1878 Crs for 2017-18 and Rs. 456 Crs for 2018-19, it is noteworthy that one of the two DISCOMs is back to profits—the first ever since it was created.

As per the ministry, 16 of the 18 states that have joined the scheme already have achieved a lower gap between their average cost of electricity supply and average cost of realisation and about 12 states have reduced their Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) loss levels.

With the remaining states on board, this scheme—that has been termed as the game changer scheme by both industry and experts—can permanently solve the long-pending issues of India’s distribution sector and revive the power sector as a whole.

The “benefits” of demonetisation and ways of reviving the investment spirit were among the major issues that were discussed at a meeting of the National Executive Council of the CII, which was attended by Union Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal.

Addressing a press meet later , Mr Goyal said: “At the national council of CII, a number of important issues relating to the Indian economy and different sectors of Indian industry were discussed. And of course a lot of discussions about the benefits of the demonetisation took place.”

He said that steps needed to revive the investment-spirit and to address the disruptions in a few sectors were addressed. This was done “to restore growth of the Indian economy,” he said.

The minister said that the entire assembly of leaders have unanimously welcomed the move towards corruption-free industry to promote digital transactions and to have a black-money free economy. “ It will help widen tax base and reduce inflation,” Mr. Goyal said. Industrialists present at the meeting said that industry flagged people’s apprehensions on the move. They also pressed for urgent implementation of GST.

Mr. Goyal said that cash-flow has now improved and thrust was now on rural areas where flow of money was being increased. “The cash limit at ATMs will also go in course of time”, the minister said.

Launching the BHIM (Bharat Interface for money) app to promote digital transactions and payments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong case for accelerating financial inclusion through the digital economy.
Once again, Modi dwelled on the politically sensitive issue of a class divide, claiming that the fight against corruption was undertaken to empower the poor.

“The pain that we have borne in doing so is our strength… The poor citizens of this country should have the primary right on the wealth of the nation,” Modi said while talking about demonetisation.

Modi’s address on Friday came on the last day of the deadline for depositing demonetised notes. Demonetisation has been the key political flashpoints between the government and the opposition, leading to a washout of the winter session of Parliament.
Taking a jibe at the Congress, Modi said, “Earlier people used to talk about scams, how much money has been lost in coal, 2G, and other scams. Now people are talking about how much has been recovered.”

The app has been named after Bhimrao Ambedkar, a Dalit icon. The implicit political symbolism targets Dalits, traditionally oppressed and a key constituency in all the three poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand.

“The app named after the great economist Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is a new year gift to the citizens of the country. It works on both smartphones and feature phones. Now your thumbprint has become your identity, bank and business,” added Modi.
“The BHIM app will empower small traders, tribals, farmers and this is why this app is named after the man who worked for the dalits. Mantra of Dr. Ambedkar was to work for the upliftment of the poor. And the biggest power of technology is that it can empower the poor,” he added.
Modi urged the country to start adopting digital modes of payment from 1 January and make at least five transactions a day without cash.

“What he has said today, using the thumb for all financial transactions, if it materializes, it will do wonders for India. Modi is trying to establish new equations for the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and opening its door to poor, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,” said N. Bhaskara Rao, a New Delhi-based political analyst.

Currently, the app is available on the Android play store and enables users to make all forms of cashless payments using various digital modes such as debit/credit cards.

“Customers and merchants both will be able to make seamless transactions through this one app without having to download multiple bank apps,” said Naveen Surya, managing director, ItzCash Card Ltd, and chairman, Payments Council of India.
Developed by the National Payments Corporation of India,the app is interoperable with other Unified Payments Interface applications, and bank accounts.