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Record village electrification among key feats: Goyal

Piyush Goyal, the Minister of State (I/C) in the Ministry of Coal, Power and New & Renewable Energy, has said that electrification of a total of 7,108 villages against the targeted 2,800 was one of the total nine achievements of his ministry during financial year 2015-16.

“A total of 7,108 villages have been electrified out of 18,452 un-electrified villages against the target of 2,800,” Goyal said while speaking at CII’s Annual Session in Delhi.

Distribution of more than 9 crore LED bulbs, thereby achieving 150% growth, addition of the highest-ever 3,200 MW of wind power capacity, 24,171 MW of conventional power addition were other achievements of his ministry, he said.

Among other achievements were commissioning of projects of more than Rs 30,000 crore by Powergrid Corporation, initiation of transmission bids worth Rs 1 lakh crore.

“The country has become coal-surplus. We had done the highest-ever coal production of 42 million tons (mt) in a single year. In two years, we had added about 74 mt of coal production as Coal India produced 536.5 mt of coal, recording an 8.6% growth rate, the highest-ever since 1988. Solar projects worth more than 21 GW were also bid out during the year,” Goyal said.

He said that the government is focusing on a multi-pronged strategy to ensure increased electricity access and demand.

The overall strategy includes a focus on enhancing energy efficiency, thrust on renewable energy and ensuring sustainable growth, he said, adding that the government’s first priority is reaching power to the poorest of the poor in the country.

“I am fairly confident of bringing electricity to all villages by next year. We intend to reach every home in the country by 2019,” Goyal stressed.

On lowering industrial tariffs, Goyal said that the effort is to address inefficiencies.

Goyal said that UDAY, the initiative for power sector reforms, is expected to result in savings of Rs 180,000 crore annually from 2019, which would provide headroom to bring down tariffs.