Guj power generation cost spiked due to Russia-Ukraine war coal prices minister tells Assembly – EQ Mag Pro

Gandhinagar :Gujarat’s electricity generation costs went up significantly due to the Russia-Ukraine war and rise in coal prices but the financial burden was borne by the state government and was not passed on to citizens, state energy minister Kanubhai Desai told the Assembly on Tuesday.

Desai was addressing the House on the budgetary demands of the state’s energy department.

“Due to the Ukraine war and rising cost of coal in recent times, our electricity generation cost went up to Rs 3,000 crore. However, the entire cost was borne by the government without increasing power tariffs of citizens, farmers etc,” he said.

He also said Gujarat’s per capita power consumption is almost double that of the country.

He informed the Assembly that the state government had decided to join the Centre’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) and a provision of Rs 100 crore for the same has been made in this year’s state Budget “To ensure uninterrupted and quality power supply, we have decided to join the Centre’s RDSS. This scheme will improve operational efficiencies and help us plan all aspects of power generation and distribution in an effective manner,” said Desai.

Betting big on the renewable energy sector, Desai said the state government plans to increase the installed capacity of renewable sources.

“The installed capacity of renewable sources in the state was 4,126 megawatt in 2013. Today, it stands at 15,447 MW. Our target is to take it to 19,700 MW by the end of 2022,” said the minister.

In an assurance to the opposition about agricultural power connections, Desai said the BJP government has given nearly one lakh such connections to farmers in the last five years and all pending applications will be cleared in the next financial year.

Source: PTI