Uninterrupted power supply govt's priority, says Rajasthan minister

The Rajasthan government is stepping up efforts to improve the electricity situation in the state and has directed officers concerned to ensure uninterrupted power supply to domestic and industrial consumers, said Minister of State for Energy (independent charge) Hiralal Nagar.

 

Nagar said the government had started the process of setting up new grid sub-stations (GSS) in the state.

 

He said the power department has been instructed to keep its preparations complete to ensure farmers can get smooth power supply for irrigation during crop season.

 

”We have directed the departmental officers to resolve the electricity problems of the common people and issue agricultural connections soon, and wherever necessary, set up grid substations (GSS),” Nagar said.

 

He said that under feeder separation for power improvement in the state, the Central government had sanctioned Rs 7,800 crore.

 

The state government has decided to focus more on solar power to improve its electricity situation.

 

According to the plan, the state government aims to produce 30 gigawatts (Gw) of solar power by the end of FY25 to become self-reliant in the power and energy sector, an official said.

 

Rajasthan has an estimated solar energy potential of 142 GW. 

 

Owing to the state’s rising electricity demand, which is increasing by 8-10 per cent every year, the government’s focus is to fulfil 43 per cent of the total demand from solar energy by 2030. Last year, the state installed 15,195 MW of solar power plants.

 

Recently, the state government signed MoUs worth Rs 6.57 trillion with investors from the energy sector at the Energy Pre-Summit. The pre-summit is part of the ‘Rising Rajasthan Global Investment Summit 2024’ which is set to be held in Jaipur from December 9-11 this year.

 

The state government has so far signed MoUs for investments worth over Rs 20 trillion with different firms through various domestic and international roadshows held in Mumbai, Delhi, South Korea, Japan, the UAE, Qatar, Singapore, Germany, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, as well as through different sectoral pre-summits and district-level summits, officials said.

 

The MoUs propose to set up projects across various segments of renewable energy and power generation sector, including solar, wind, green hydrogen, hybrid, pump storage, battery storage and green ammonia projects among others.