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Union power ministry to study Haryana model to reduce line losses
During a high-level meeting chaired by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said under the structural reforms in power sector, the state government is making dedicated efforts to reduce the gross distribution and commercial deficit of distribution companies under Ujjawal Discom Assuarnce Yojana (UDAY)
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that the measures taken by Haryana government to reduce line losses of power distribution companies will be studied by the Central government.
Sitharaman, who chaired a high-level meeting with chief ministers, said the Union power secretary will be asked to study Haryana’s model to get a better understanding of the blueprint followed by state, according to an official statement.
Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said under the structural reforms in power sector, the state government is making dedicated efforts to reduce the gross distribution and commercial deficit of distribution companies under Ujjawal Discom Assuarnce Yojana (UDAY).
“During the last five years, the gross distribution and commercial deficit declined from 30.02% in 2015-16 to 16.22% in 2020-21. Further, during 2017-18, Discoms have achieved operating/net profit of Rs. 412 crore by achieving a financial turnaround two years ahead of the target year. This profit was ₹291 crore in the year 2018-19 and ₹331 crore in the year 2019-20,” the chief minister said.
Khattar said that Haryana’s power distribution companies have signed MoU with Energy Efficient Services Limited to install 10 lakh smart meters in the next three years. As many as 2.15 lakh smart meters have been installed by December 2020. Smart-metering project by Discoms includes several citizen-centric features such as prepaid facility, trust reading-based billing, missed call facility to view electricity bill online, making bill payment through post offices, consumer satisfaction rate for new connection and average time of delivery services, he said.
Khattar said the successful implementation of the state government’s ambitious Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) scheme will pave the way for paperless, faceless service delivery to citizens and also play a pivotal role in improving the ease of living index of the families identified under PPP. The scheme aims to reach out to those at the bottom of the pyramid while upholding the spirit of Antyodaya.
