Haryana Government has urged the Government of India for higher allocation of power from the central sector projects.This was stated by state minster for power Ajay Singh Yadav, while speaking at State Power Ministers Conference at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Tuesday.
He said that Haryana does not have any natural resources like coal and gas. Therefore, it should be allocated more power from the central sector projects, including mega power plants. He also urged upon the Union Power Ministry that full requirement of 7.5 mmscmd gas should be allocated for the proposed 1500 mw gas based combined cycle power plant in Faridabad district, since most of the high growth NCR area falls in Haryana state and there is no other peak load station in the state.
However he thanked for the allocation of 2.8 mmscmd of gas for the plant and said that this will help in running one unit of the plant, He also stressed on adequate supply of better quality coal for recently commissioned thermal plant at Hisar.
Future projects, such as, the Yamuna Nagar extension unit and a new thermal plant at Sonipat, are also awaiting coal linkage, he said.
Yadav said that the state had taken steps like increasing self generation, judicious banking of power and lower procurement from short term sources has resulted in substantial savings.He added that, with the segregation of rural, domestic and agriculture load, the power supply to the rural areas in Haryana had improved and also resulted in increased revenue collection. This has also helped in fair assessment of subsidy requirement for the agricultural sector, he said.
Yadav said that the state government has also taken a decision in principle to involve Panchayats in collection of electricity bills in rural areas. For checking of theft of power and water, special police stations are also likely to be set up shortly, he said.
Referring to the goal of “power to all” Yadav said that under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidytikaran Yojna, an un-electrified habitation having population of 100 people was to be given electric connectivity, but there are large clusters of houses located in the fields, which are still un-electrified. Therefore, he suggested that the condition of 100 inhabitants should be reduced to 25, if the goal of “power to all” has to be achieved.