Union Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh on Sunday announced that the 765 kV transmission line would be commissioned soon in Vijayawada.
Addressing newsmen here, Mr. Raj Kumar said that wind power projects would be launched along the Andhra Pradesh coast during the second phase as suggested by a survey that had mapped the potential zones across the country.
In the first phase, wind power generation projects had been launched along the Gujarat and Tamil Nadu coasts. “In 2015, there was no electricity in 18,450 villages across the country. Of them, 16,800 villages have been provided power till date. To achieve ‘power for all’ in Arunachal Pradesh, 1,000 villages will be provided electricity by March 2019,” said Mr. Raj Kumar.
Efforts were under way to ensure 24 X 7 power supply to every household by April 2019, the Union Minister said.
Pre-paid recharge
The proposal to introduce pre-paid recharge facility to gain access to electricity was under consideration, he said. “The pre-paid facility will soon be offered by phasing out the monthly billing system,” Mr. Raj Kumar added.
Power export
“We have the capacity to generate excess power (including solar and wind). India is a major power exporter to Bangladesh and Nepal. Talks are under way to export power to Mayanmar and Sri Lanka,” he said.
State BJP president and Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu was present.
Pat for Transco, discoms
Staff Reporter in Vijayawada writes:
Mr. Singh took stock of the performance of the power sector in the State in a meeting with Energy Minister K. Kala Venkat Rao and heads of public utilities.
He lauded the AP Transco and Discoms for keeping the T&D losses at the single-digit level and for the focus laid by them to augment infrastructure, particularly on the renewable energy front.
Giving a presentation, Principal Secretary Ajay Jain requested Mr. Singh to sanction 25,000 additional solar pump-sets to help the State consolidate its position in upgrading its energy efficiency programme.
Mr. Singh responded positively to the request.
