PM launches Power Sector’s revamped distribution sector scheme

PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of various green energy projects of the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) as he participated in the grand finale of ‘Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya – Power @2047

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the Grand Finale marking the culmination of ‘Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya – Power @2047’ today via video conferencing. The Prime Minister interacted with the beneficiaries of various schemes. PM interacted with Shri Hansraj from Mandi, Shri Kalaha Reang from Khowai, Tripura, Shri Kagu Kranti Kumar of Visakhapatnam, Smt Pramila Devi of Varanasi and Shri Dhiren Sureshbahi Patel from Ahmedabad. They are beneficiaries of KUSUM, solar power, DDUGJY, IPDS and solar panels respectively.

Shri R. K. Singh, Union Minister for Power and NRE and Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar, MoS, Power and Heavy Industries were present. Shri Bhagwanth Khuba, MoS, MNRE joined virtually. The event was attended by 12 Chief Ministers, 5 Union Ministers, 3 Deputy Chief Ministers, 3 Lt Governors, 27 State Ministers and 81 other dignitaries. Shri Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi, Secretary, MNRE, Shri Alok Kumar, Secretary, Power, Shri Vivek Kumar Dewangan, CMD, REC Limited, Shri Gurdeep Singh, CMD, NTPC, Shri R. Lakshmanan, CEO, REC Limited and Shri Vishal Kapoor, JS, Power attended the event. The grand finale of Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya organized today was a national level celebration where the participants and beneficiaries from over 100 districts across the country were connected through virtual mode.

The Prime Minister launched the Ministry of Power’s flagship Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme which is aimed at improving the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of Distribution Companies. With an outlay of Rs.3,03,758 crore over a period of five years from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26, the scheme aims to provide financial assistance to DISCOMs for modernization and strengthening of distribution infrastructure, aiming at improvement of the reliability and quality of supply to end consumers. It is also proposed to provide 25 crore Smart Prepaid meters to consumers all over the country.

The PM also launched the national portal for Rooftop solar, which will enable online tracking of the process of installation of rooftop solar plants, starting from registering the applications to release of subsidy in residential consumers’ (‘beneficiaries’) bank account after installation and inspection of the plant. The estimated capacity under the national solar rooftop program is 4000 MW. This will be a major step towards realizing the solar rooftop potential of the nation and will contribute towards India’s target to produce 500 GW energy through non-fossil fuels committed in COP-26.

During the programme, the Prime Minister also dedicated and laid the foundation stone of various green energy projects of NTPC worth over Rs 5200 crore. He inaugurated the 100 MW Ramagundam Floating Solar Project in Telangana and the 92 MW Kayamkulam Floating Solar Project in Kerala. He laid the foundation stone of the 735 MW Nokh Solar Project in Rajasthan, Green Hydrogen Mobility Project in Leh and Kawas Green Hydrogen Blending with Natural Gas project in Gujarat.

Shri R. K. Singh, Union Minister for Power and NRE welcomed the participants in the event and highlighted the initiatives and achievements of the Power sector. The minister said that the power generation capacity has increased to over 4, 00, 000 MW today which is 1, 85, 000 MW more than our demand. He further said that the distribution infrastructure has been augmented with addition of over 6 lakh ckm LT lines, 2,68,838 11 KV HT lines and Feeder segregation of 1,22,123 ckm agricultural feeders. He informed that in 2015 the average hours of supply in rural areas was 12.5 Hrs which has now increased to an average 22.5 Hrs. He further said that these are the achievements of Centre along with the states.

As part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ – to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence, the Ministry of Power and New & Renewable Energy are organizing ‘Bijli Mahotsav’ across all districts of India from 25^th to 31^st July 2022 under the umbrella of Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya – Power @ 2047 through active public participation and driven by the collaboration of the state and the Central Governments. Key achievements of Power Sector are being highlighted through these events. Bijli Mahotsav kickstarted on 25th July 2022 across various Districts in the country. Over the last few days more than 1500+ events/ activities were organized at district level in coordination with District administration and was attended by Hon’ble Union Ministers, MPs, State Ministers, and MLAs among other dignitaries in large numbers.

Projects launched

The Ramagundam project is India’s largest floating solar PV project with 4.5 lakh ‘Made in India’ solar PV modules.

Kayamkulam project is the second largest floating solar PV project consisting of 3 lakh ‘Made in India’ solar PV panels floating on water.

The 735 MW Solar PV Project at Nokh, in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan is India’s largest Domestic Content Requirement based Solar project with 1000 MWp at a single location, deploying high-wattage bifacial PV Modules with a tracker system.

National Portal for Rooftop solar

With the launch of this Portal, it will be very simple for a residential consumer to apply and get the solar rooftop solar installed. The consumers will have the choice to select, any vendor registered with the local distribution company, solar modules of equality and efficiency, solar inverter and other balance of plants and equipment. The process of registration of vendors with the distribution company has been made simple, they have to just submit a declaration along with a PBG amount of Rs. 2.5 lakh and they will get registered. These vendors will also get access to provide their information and rates on the National Portal so that any consumer willing to install rooftop solar can contact them and get the rooftop solar installed through mutually agreed rates. The process of registration of the application to release of subsidy in the bank account of the consumer can be tracked online on the Portal. Following steps are involved:

 

1. The consumer has to register his mobile and e-mail and activate the account,
2. Log-in and submit application. The application will be automatically forwarded to local distribution company for technical feasibility approval as per the prevailing regulations of the State,
3. Once the technical feasibility approval is given, it will be automatically reflected in the Portal and an e-mail will also be sent to the consumer,
4. The consumer can get the rooftop solar system installed and submit the details on the online Portal for inspection and installation of net-meter.
5. The Discom officials will inspect the installation and will install net-meter.
6. After the net-meter is installed and details uploaded by Discom, the consumer can submit bank account details for release of subsidy.
7. The subsidy will be released directly into the bank account of the consumer within 30 days. The rate of subsidy will be common for all the consumers in the country.

To protect the interest of consumers, apart from mandating the vendors to get registered at the Discom, the vendor also has to maintain the rooftop solar system for at least 5 years. In the Simplified Procedure, Discoms need not invite tender, discover rates and empanel vendors. Also the vendors need not to wait for the release of subsidy from the Ministry rather they can get the full amount from the consumer as the consumer will be getting subsidy directly into his bank account. This simplification will fasten the installation of rooftop solar in the country and the targeted 4,000 MW capacity under the Rooftop Solar Programme Phase-II would be achieved. The Programme will benefit more than 10 lakh households. With the installation of rooftop solar, a household consumer will not only save on electricity bill but will also be able to contribute towards addition of green energy and achieving of national goals.