The coal requirement for the 12th Plan has been taken care of and the de-allocation of coal blocks mentioned in the CAG report will not affect it, said Union Power Minister Veerappa Moily.
Addressing the media here on Tuesday, Moily said coal allocation for about 17,000 MW from the blocks that had been reviewed by the Government auditor would only come into production in the 13{+t}{+h} Plan.
On coal block allocation, he said windfall gains would go to the consumer and not to power generators as they have to operate in a tariff-based bidding regime.
OPEN ACCESS
The Minister said the open access policy (over 1 MW) under a proviso of the Electricity Act of 2003 raised concerns of the cross-subsidiary to the agriculture sector.
The Attorney General was of the opinion that it should be provided and a solution was being worked out to ensure that the level of subsidy was maintained.
The Union Government was targeting 84,000 MW of power addition in the 12{+t}{+h} Plan as also the integration of the southern grid with the national grid by 2014.
“Once the entire southern grid is also connected, we will have one frequency across India,” he said.
He pointed out the State power utilities burdened with over Rs 2 lakh crore debt would undergo debt restructuring and the Union Cabinet would decide on it soon. It was not a bailout but a process to ensure that the SEBs/discoms achieved self sufficiency to purchase power at the end of the 12{+t}{+h} Plan and did not bank on the national grid as payment could be made later.
Moily commended Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan for bringing down the T&D (transmission and distribution) losses to 16.03 per cent from 29.6 per cent, besides increasing electricity bill collection to 97.21 per cent.
He assured Chavan that he would intercede on his behalf with the Environment Ministry relating to the right of way of a transmission line in the State as also issues concerning tribal habitation along the transmission corridor.
Moily also said he would take up the issue of gas allocation for the Ratnagiri Gas and Power plant with the Prime Minister and the Empowered Group of Ministers.