Shri Piyush Goyal Reviews Chhattisgarh Power Sector in Raipur; Inaugurates IIIT at Raipur Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy took a review meeting of the power sector of Chhattisgarh at Raipur. The meeting was attended by the Dr Raman Singh , Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh, Chief Secretary, Chhattisgarh, and senior officers from Ministry of Coal, Power, Chhattisgarh Govt. and Central PSU's. During the meeting, discussions were held on various issues pertaining to transmission, generation & renewable energy. Govt of Chhattisgarh informed that Chhattisgarh is energy surplus now and can provide power to other power deficit states. Shri Goyal assured that enabling framework in this regard would be provided by Central Govt. Approvals required from the Govt of India will be expedited. Shri Goyal further assured that transmission network would be strengthened to evacuate power from Chhattisgarh. To facilitate evacuation of power from Chhattisgarh, PGCIL has taken a number of transmission projects on war footing basis. The commissioning of 765 KV Gwalior-Jaipur, Aurangabad-Solapur and Kolhapur-Narendra lines has been expedited. REC will provide low interest loans to Chhattisgarh. He also stated that for energy conservation, LED lights will be provided to all households during the next 3 years. Energy efficient pumps will be studied and popularized. Coal ash will be used for mine closure in accordance with the protocol being developed for the purpose by the Ministry of Environment. Coal stock position in various Power Stations located in the State was also reviewed. He stated that coal stock position has improved substantially during the last one year and that on an average, the power stations have coal stocks sufficient for generation of 22 days. Further, e-auction of coal will be made more effective to assist small industries. Within the e-auction quantities, there will be two separate windows of 5 Million Tone each for power sector for projects with PPAs and without PPAs. Shri Goyal also drew attention to the hugely successful coal auctions this year which along with allotment made to the State entities would generate a revenue of Rs.1,10, 992.13 crore to the State of Chhattisgarh over the next 30 years. Coal Ministry has launched a Coal Project Monitoring Portal which is a very effective tool for real-time monitoring and fast operationalization of coal blocks. The Minister assured full support and cooperation from Central Govt for growth and development of Power Sector in Chhattisgarh. Earlier in the day , Shri Goyal inaugurated the IIIT at New Raipur, set up in collaboration with the State Govt of Chhattisgarh and NTPC. The institute is being set up in a 200 Acre campus at a cost of Rs 200 crore and will start admissions from the 2015 academic session. This is a landmark collaborative project for the State and the first institution with an Innovation Lab. He also stated that South Eastern Coalfields and NTPC will jointly set up a Hospital at a cost of Rs 200 crore with an Oncology block. RM/ ----
