Uttar Pradesh Government Pushes Reforms In Energy Sector With ₹31,000 Crore Scheme – EQ Mag Pro
Against their entitlement to availability of power for 18 hours a day as per the roster, villages have got electricity only for 7-10 hours during the last two months or so
In its 2022-23 budget, the state government has earmarked ₹1,000 crore to enable the UP Power Corporation (UPPCL) to buy additional electricity to ensure that villages have access to uninterrupted supply from 7pm to 6am during the summer even as it also allocated funds for the implementation of a new power reform scheme as announced by the Centre last year.
The government’s allocation of ₹1,000 funds for power purchase comes amid the power crisis prevailing in the state for last two months due to increase in demand and reduced generation. Unable to buy additional power due to paucity of funds to meet the demand, the UPPCL has been resorting to load shedding in villages mostly during night to supply power to cities as per the roster.
Against their entitlement to availability of power for 18 hours a day as per the roster, villages have got electricity only for 7-10 hours during the last two months or so. The UPPCL may use the ₹1,000 crore funds to arrange additional power to provide uninterrupted supply between the sunset and the sunrise till next three-four months before the crisis starts subsiding with the reduction in demand.
Besides, the government has made an allocation of ₹5,530 crore to start the “Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme”— a reforms-based scheme announced by the Centre with an allocation of over ₹3 lakh crore in June last year.
The scheme, under which an amount of ₹31,000 crore is proposed to be spent in U.P. during the next three years with the cross budgetary support from the Centre, targets 100% smart prepaid metering for all consumers by March 2025 to make discoms financially viable to supply 24×7 power to all.
The government has also made a provision of 50% discount on electricity bills of private tube well consumers (farmers) with effect from January 1, 2022. The government will provide subsidy to the UPPCL to make up for its deficit being caused because of providing power to farmers at discounted tariff.
The BJP government had announced 50% tariff reduction for private tube wells before the assembly elections and had also announced free power to them in its manifesto. The budget as presented on Thursday, however, makes no mention of free power promise.
Under ‘Babu Ji Kalyan Singh Gram Unnati Yojana’, solar street lights will be installed on the roads of all the villages of the state. A provision of ₹22. 5 crore has been made for the same.
Source: TNN
