Goa: Will complete power projects in next one year, says power minister Nilesh Cabral
Power minister Nilesh Cabral said that the Goa electricity department will complete all pending power infrastructure projects before the coming elections, including the rollout of smart meters for low-tension power consumers.
The assurances, provided during a debate on the efficiency of the Delhi and Goa government’s power model, failed to convince the Aam Aadmi Party’s Valmiki Naik. Naik said that while the Delhi government has succeeded in providing reliable power supply and free power within four years of being elected, the BJP government in Goa has failed to provide cheap and reliable power for the last nine years.
“We intend to put all 7 lakh or 6.5 lakh consumers on smart meters,” Cabral said. “I want to convert everybody else to smart meters. I have one year and two months left for my term and I will try to push it.”
Cabral said that around 1,200 high tension power consumers in the state have already been shifted to smart meters and they get their bills on the first of every month.
The power minister admitted that Goa’s power infrastructure is poor and needs to be upgraded. Cabral said that he has asked the government to deposit the electricity duty charged on every power bill in a separate account so that the funds can be utilised for infrastructure improvement. The state collects Rs 200-300 crore every year as electricity duty, but the funds are deposited in the consolidated fund of the state.
“For the last six months I have been following up and I had a meeting with the chief minister today and in a month this problem will be solved.
