The Centre and and the state of Sikkim today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) for operational improvement of the state’s power distribution department. With the signing of the MoU, the total number of states covered under UDAY has reached 22. According to a statement from the Ministry of Power, Sikkim would derive an overall net benefit of approximately Rs 481 crore through UDAY by way of cheaper funds, reduction in AT&C and transmission losses and interventions in energy efficiency during the period of turnaround.

The MoU paves the way for improving the operational efficiency of the state’s power distribution department. AT&C losses and transmission losses would be brought down through compulsory distribution transformer metering, consumer indexing & GIS mapping of losses, upgrade/change transformers, meters, smart metering of high-end consumers and feeder audit, besides eliminating the gap between cost of supply of power and realisation. The reduction in AT&C losses and transmission losses to 15 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively is likely to bring additional revenue of around Rs.453 crore.

Demand side interventions in UDAY such as usage of energy-efficient LED bulbs, agricultural pumps, fans & air-conditioners and efficient industrial equipment through PAT (Perform, Achieve, Trade) would help reduce the peak load, flatten load curve and thus help in reducing energy consumption in Sikkim. The gain is expected to be around Rs.25 crore.

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