Minister highlights Government bid to make Odisha a power hub

BHUBANESWAR: Energy Minister Sushant Singh on Wednesday said the State Government is making constant efforts to make Odisha the power hub of the country. Inaugurating a national seminar organised by Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) on its 23rd foundation day, the Minister claimed Odisha is having surplus power and said the challenge before the Government is to supply uninterrupted electricity to people who live in a State which is prone to natural calamity.

Chairman of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) Pradeep Kumar Pujari said the decision of State bodies directly affects consumers as they regulate the discoms. They must be cautious while determining tariff, he said. Noting that the CERC is bringing out many regulations, he said the SERCs should adopt these with State specific amendments. The CERC has already initiated several futuristic regulatory initiatives and is also working on market based ancillary services, Pujari added.

Energy Secretary Hemant Sharma said the State government is investing heavily in the power sector through different schemes. Since 2012, the State Government has initiated a long term capital investment plan of about `20,000 crore in generation, distribution and transmission sectors.  While praising OERC for the sterling role it played in transitioning system with limited resources, he said the body is operating in a complex system where the number of players has increased and consumer strength grown from 13 lakh to nearly 73 lakh since its inception.

OERC chairman UN Behera highlighted the achievement of the regulatory commission. While praising the progress in terms of system improvement due to massive influx of funds by the State Government and ground rules laid down by the commission, he lamented the high loss that still hampered growth in Odisha. Behera exhorted the distribution utilities to adopt best practices to improve the system.