With government buildings across the State not having paid electricity bills to the tune of ₹5,792 crore, the State government plans to install prepaid electricity meters in all government offices, Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar informed the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
The objective of installation of prepaid meters is to reform the power sector and trim expenditure. Prepaid meters would also be installed in buildings under construction and receive temporary connections in all Amruth cities to generate revenue, the Minister said during the question hour.
“This is a preliminary thought. There are bill-related problems in government offices and the financial burden is increasing for us. A final decision will be taken after consultation with experts in the sector,” Mr. Kumar said.
In a reply to Yashavantharayagouda Vittalgouda Patil (Congress), the Minister said many government buildings had not paid electricity bills on time, resulting in losses to all electricity supply companies.
The Minister ruled out installation of meters for IP sets of farmers in the State. He allayed fears of privatisation of the electricity sector and Escoms raised by Mr. Patil. The Congress member alleged that in some cases, the farmers’ IP sets were being charged.
Appacchu Ranjan of the BJP demanded that the government provide free electricity to IP sets owned by coffee growers on a par with other farmers. Mr. Kumar said the department would consider the proposal after consultations with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai who holds the Finance portfolio.
App to bring all transformers under one platform
The Energy Department plans to introduce an app which will serve as ‘Transformer information management system’ to bring all transformers under one platform, Mr. nil Kumar told the Legislative Assembly.
The app will help to track requirements for repair of transformers. “The objective is to replace faulty transformers within 24 hour,” he said.
Mr. Kumar said a 100-day programme would be launched to reform the power sector as well as to ensure repair of all transformers in 24 hours. Already there were 159 transformer repair centres and 10 more would be added soon. The State government will also create a transformer bank, he said.
