With an aim to overhaul the power sector, the Government is planning a series of amendments to the Electricity Act 2003 within the current session of Parliament, said Piyush Goyal, Minister of State, Independent Charge for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy on Saturday.
“I am looking at a billion tonne coal production, 100 GW of solar power capacity and investments of about $50 billion in the transmission and distribution segment in the next five years,” the Minister said.
Goyal was speaking at the CII National Council Meeting, organised here.
The Government is also set to impose stringent penalties on errant discoms who fail to meet Renewable Purchase Obligations, the CII statement said. This will be clubbed with a renewable obligation on generators by which all conventional power producers such as NTPC will have to accountable for some proportion of renewable power.
As far as flailing distribution companies are concerned, the Minister said that reforms are being planned and the Government is providing provisions whereby the entire discom set up will be unbundled. “While there will be a Government distributor of power to ensure that power is provided to the weaker section of society, competition will be introduced and the private sector role will be expanded.”
On financing models for solar power, Goyal said that the Government is looking at graded tariffs to achieve grid parity; provide investors a fair return on investment over the lifecycle of the project; and bring in an entity to provide power purchase assurance to investors.