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Just before the national election year, the Nitish Kumar led Bihar Government has decided to put major emphasis on renovation of the rackety power infrastructure in the state. It has sanctioned more than Rs . 2,000 crore for this purpose in the current fiscal.
The money would come various centrally sponsored schemes such as Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF), Rajeev Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojna (RGGVY) and Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) besides funding from various other multilateral organisations and state's own plans. Besides, the state government is also planning to seek financial assistance from multinational organisations.
Apart from that, the state government has also planned to spend Rs 150 crore on generation, according to the first supplementary budget of the state government. The budget document also reveals that the South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd. will be the major beneficiary in this planning, as it is set to receive more than Rs 800 crore in current fiscal. The money will be spent in strengthening the distribution network in southern part of the power deprived state.The North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd has also been allotted more thanRs 500 crore in the current fiscal. Meanwhile, the state government has also allotted Rs 500 crore for improving transmission lines, which are no longer sufficient to meet the power requirement. "We are committed to provide electricity to every corner of the state in next two years.
This is why, we are investing so much time and money on revamping our transmission and distribution network. In next couple of years, we have planned to investRs 28,000 crore on this segment alone," State Energy Minister Vijender Yadav told Business Standard.
With the new generation capacities and increased central quota, the state is hopeful that it would get more than 4,000 megawatt in the next two years.
