GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.04 ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017 CONTRACT LABOURERS ENGAGED BY POWER PSUs †*4. SHRI P.L. PUNIA: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state: (a) the number of contract labourers engaged in Navratna and Maharatna companies of the Ministry along with the details of nature of works they are engaged in; (b) the details of companies or several units of the companies that have been registered as principal employer along with the number of labourers covered by them; and (c) whether the companies propose to regularize such labourers who are working for several years and if not, the reasons therefor? A N S W E R THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL ) (a) to (c) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *******
32
Embed
RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.04 …powermin.nic.in/sites/default/files/uploads/RS_17072017...GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.04 ANSWERED ON
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO.04 ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
CONTRACT LABOURERS ENGAGED BY POWER PSUs
†*4. SHRI P.L. PUNIA: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state: (a) the number of contract labourers engaged in Navratna and Maharatna companies of the Ministry along with the details of nature of works they are engaged in; (b) the details of companies or several units of the companies that have been registered as principal employer along with the number of labourers covered by them; and (c) whether the companies propose to regularize such labourers who are working for several years and if not, the reasons therefor?
A N S W E R THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )
(a) to (c) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
*******
STATEMENT STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.04 ANSWERED IN THE RAJYA SABHA ON 17.07.2017 REGARDING CONTRACT LABOURERS ENGAGED BY POWER PSUs.
********* (a) : Under Ministry of Power, there is one Maharatna company i.e. NTPC
Limited; and three Navratna companies, namely, Power Finance Corporation Ltd.
(PFC), Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd. (REC) and Power Grid Corporation of
India Ltd. (PGCIL). 37,455 contract labourers have been engaged by these
companies.
The works/activities outsourced by Power Sector companies are
incidental to the main business and are non-core in nature, which mainly include the
services/activities like housekeeping, horticulture, security, canteen, transport
services, miscellaneous civil maintenance works, maintenance of office equipments
etc.
(b) : Wherever outsourced work is being performed by the contractors’
workers, respective units/projects/stations obtain registration as principal employer
under the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970. PFC, New Delhi
has applied for registration as principal employer. The details of contract labourers
engaged by various units of Navratna and Maharatna companies of the Ministry of
Power are given at Annexure.
(c) : So far as the provisions of Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition)
Act, 1970 and its Central Rules 1971 are concerned, there is no scheme of
regularization of contract workers under the Act.
************
ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN PART (b) OF THE STATEMENT LAID IN REPLY TO STARRED QUESTION NO. 04 ANSWERED IN THE RAJYA SABHA ON 17.07.2017 REGARDING CONTRACT LABOURERS ENGAGED BY POWER PSUs.
*********** Contract labourers engaged by various units of Navratna and Maharatna companies of the Ministry of Power ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I: NTPC
Sl. No. Plant Name No of Contractors’ Workers Engaged
DECLINE IN COST OF POWER 78. SHRI ANIL DESAI: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether the cost of power has come down after the advent of non-conventional energy like wind power, bio-mass, bio-gas and solar power; (b) whether some States are purchasing expensive power from private players when it is available at lower rates elsewhere; (c) whether the Ministry has developed a software to keep track of power costs to enable power utilities to stick to the merit order; and (d) if so, the details thereof and the steps to rein in States?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL ) (a): Power is generated from different sources of energy and in different plants at different costs depending on parameters which include inter-alia technology, location, Capital cost, Fuel etc. Cost of power from renewable energy sources also varies accordingly. Lowest tariff of Solar power has been discovered at Rs 2.44/Kwhr during 2017-18 for Bhadla Solar Park, Rajasthan.
(b) : States/power utilities have various power purchase agreement in force and usually follow the cost optimization principle in procuring power to meet their demand.
(c) & (d) : Ministry of Power in association with POSOCO and Central Electricity Authority has developed a Web portal and a Mobile App to bring transparency in Merit order scheduling & despatch and ensure most economic system operation. The web portal ‘MERIT’ (Merit Order Despatch of Electricity for Rejuvenation of Income and Transparency) and Mobile App displays power procurement related data transparently to all Stakeholders.
**********
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.79
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
PROBLEMS FACED BY MEGA POWER PROJECTS 79. SHRI RAJKUMAR DHOOT: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether it is a fact that absence of fuel linkages and power purchase agreements is hampering as many as 25 mega power projects in the country; (b) if so, the details thereof; (c) whether Government is aware that tax sops alone can not help these mega power projects to survive; and (d) if so, what remedial measures Government proposes to take in this regard?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL ) (a) & (b) : Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) bid for Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) depending on the requirement for Power. Some of the Mega Power Projects do not have Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) or have part PPAs. Govt. of India has approved New coal allocation policy, 2017 for Power sector on 17.05.2017 viz. SHAKTI (Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India) under which inter-alia, coal is made available to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) against long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and medium-term PPAs to be concluded in future in a transparent bidding process. (c) & (d) : As per Mega Power Policy, the mega power projects are eligible to avail certain fiscal concessions/benefits. The projects which have been granted ‘provisional’ mega power status are also eligible to avail these fiscal concessions/benefits, subject to the condition that the developers of these projects fulfil the conditions stipulated in the ‘provisional’ mega certificates and furnish the final mega certificates to the Tax Authorities within a period of 60 months. As most of the developers have not been able to meet the above condition, Government of India has extended the above time frame from 60 months to 120 months.
..........2.
- 2 -
Apart from the above, following measures have been taken to ease out the stress in power sector:
i. Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme for Financial and Operational
Turnaround of power distribution utilities (DISCOMs) of the country.
ii. Augmenting Transmission capacity to remove transmission constraints.
iii. Flexibility in utilisation of domestic coal for reducing the cost of power generation.
iv. Power For All (PFA) initiative with 36 States and UTs for bringing uninterrupted quality of power to each household, industry, commercial business, small & medium enterprise and establishment, any other public needs and adequate power to agriculture consumer as per the state policy.
v. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram JyotiYojana (DDUGJY) for:
Separation of agriculture and non-agriculture feeders;
Strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution networks in the rural areas;
Metering of distribution transformers / feeders / consumers in the rural area;
Rural Electrification.
vi. Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) for:
Strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution networks in the urban areas;
Metering of distribution transformers / feeders / consumers in the urban areas;
IT enablement of distribution sector and strengthening of distribution network.
**************
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.80
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
SEGREGATION OF TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL LOSSES 80. DR. R. LAKSHMANAN: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether any proposal is pending with Government to introduce segregation of technical and commercial losses on pan- India basis; (b) if so, the details thereof; (c) whether Government undertook any consultation in this regard with all stake holders; (d) if so, the details thereof; and (e) if not, the reasons therefor?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )
(a) to (e) : Standing Committee of Parliament on Energy, in its twelfth report,
recommended that concept of segregation of commercial and technical losses should be
applied to all these cities where the erstwhile Restructured Accelerated Power
Development & Reforms Programme (R-APDRP), was implemented for Computerized
Data Collection, as well as follow-up remedial measures for detecting and plugging
leakages in electricity supply. Accordingly, all State Governments have been advised to
take necessary steps for segregation of Technical and Commercial Losses in all Go-Live
towns.
****************
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.81
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
24 HOURS ELECTRICITY TO HOUSEHOLDS IN WEST BENGAL 81. SHRI VIVEK GUPTA: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether the definition 'electrification of villages' as per Government's database does not in reality ensure 24 hours electricity to all households of the village; (b) the details of the percentage of households, in rural and urban areas, that enjoyed 24 hours electricity during the last three years, State-wise; (c) the details of percentage of households that enjoy 24 hours electricity in each district in West Bengal; and (d) the steps taken by Government to provide 24 hours electricity to all households?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL ) (a) : According to Rural Electrification Policy 2006, a village is reported as electrified, if
(i) basic infrastructure such as Distribution Transformer and Distribution Lines are provided in the inhabited locality as well as the locality inhabited by weaker sections of the society/hamlet where it exists, (ii) electricity is provided to public places like Schools, Panchayat Office, Health Centres, Dispensaries, Community Centres etc., and (iii) the number of household electrified should be at least 10% of the total number of households in the village.
A village is reported to be electrified by the States, if it fulfills the above mentioned norms. However, level of infrastructure may vary in different habitations of the same village.
..........2.
- 2 - (b) to (d): Providing 24 hours’ electricity to all households is the responsibility of concerned State Government/Power Utility. Following states have reported almost full household electrification hence available for 24 hours supply of Power :
State %age electrified HHs 1 Gujarat 98% 2 Himachal Pradesh 99% 3 Punjab 100% 4 Tamil Nadu 100% 6 West Bengal 99%
To supplement the efforts of the States, Government of India has taken up a
joint initiative with all States/UTs for preparation of State specific documents for providing 24x7 power supply to all households/homes, industrial & commercial consumers and adequate supply of power to agricultural consumers as per State policy. All the State Governments and Union Territories have signed the “24X7 Power For All” agreement with the Union Government.
Government of India supplements the efforts of State through its schemes including Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) etc.
********
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.82
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
EMPLOYMENT TO PEOPLE AFFECTED BY LAND ACQUISITION BY POWER COMPANIES
†82. SHRI P.L. PUNIA: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether power companies give preference to farmers and their families, affected by land acquisition, for working in their projects and if so, the number of affected families and the number of such families who were provided with employment; (b) the number of affected farmers who have been regularized and the number of farmers families that are still dependent on irregular employment; and (c) whether arrangement for quality education has been made for educating the children of workers, if so, the details thereof?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES
( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL ) (a) : Central Public Sector Enterprises give preference to project affected farmers and their families affected by land acquisition for their project subject to availability of vacancies and suitability of the affected persons. CPSEs also facilitate giving indirect employment to project affected persons through contracting agencies, petty contracts, PAP Cooperative Societies and other self employment avenues during construction and operation phases as per company policy. (b) : As per information provided by NTPC, NHPC, THDC, SJVN, PGCIL and NEEPCO, 5658 project affected persons, including farmers, have been provided regular employment in the projects by these CPSEs. 48 persons belonging to the land affected families of Pare Hydro Electric Project are engaged on contract basis by NEEPCO.
(c) : The power sector CPSEs establish schools in the project area where children belonging to land affected families are also extended schooling facilities. Besides under their CSR initiative, the CPSEs also provide infrastructure for nearby schools, free transportation, uniforms, books, stationery etc.
*********
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.83
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
SETTING UP OF A "HOLDING COMPANY" TO RESCUE STRESSED PRIVATE POWER PLANTS
83. SHRI DHARMAPURI SRINIVAS:
SHRI T.G. VENKATESH: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Ministry has reviewed the status of debt-laden private power plants in the country; (b) if so, the details thereof; (c) whether it is a fact that Government is contemplating on setting up of a holding company with the help of NTPC, PFC, REC and banks to acquire the debt-laden private power plants and run the companies and if so, the details thereof; and (d) the details of outcome of the review meeting in this regard?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL ) (a), (b) & (d) : Government has reviewed the status of 34 stressed Thermal Power Projects, as per the list provided by Department of Financial Services. During the review meeting, Government has identified the major reasons for stress in the Power Sector, which are as follows:
(i) Non-availability of regular fuel supply arrangements - For grant of regular coal linkages, Govt. of India has approved New coal allocation policy, 2017 for Power sector on 17.05.2017 viz. SHAKTI (Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India) under which inter-alia, coal is made available to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) against long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and medium-term PPAs to be concluded in future in a transparent bidding process.
...........2.
- 2 -
(ii) Lack of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) tie-ups - To improve the demand of
Power, following measures have been taken:
a. Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme for Financial and Operational Turnaround of power distribution utilities (DISCOMs) of the country.
b. Power For All (PFA) initiative with States and UTs for bringing uninterrupted quality of power to each household, industry, commercial business, small & medium enterprise and establishment.
c. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) for Rural Electrification;
strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution networks in the rural areas; separation of agriculture and non-agriculture feeders and metering of distribution transformers/ feeders/consumers in the rural area.
d. Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) for strengthening of sub-
transmission and distribution networks in the urban areas; Metering of distribution transformers/feeders/consumers in the urban areas and IT enablement of distribution sector.
e. Augmenting Transmission capacity to remove transmission constraints.
f. Flexibility in utilisation of domestic coal for reducing the cost of power generation.
(iii) Inability of the Promoter to infuse the equity and service debt.
(iv) Regulatory and Contractual issues. (c) : The issue of setting up of a fund has been discussed among other options with stakeholders.
************
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.84
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
TARGETS UNDER DDUGJY 84. SHRI NARAYAN LAL PANCHARIYA: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) the details of the targets set for Rajasthan under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY); (b) how much amount Government proposes to spend on electrification in rural areas, especially in Rajasthan, during the current fiscal year; (c) whether any specific assistance is provided to BPL households in rural areas for electrification; and (d) how many households are likely to benefit from the scheme during the current year and how many of them will be below the poverty line?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL ) (a): The targets set for Rajasthan during the financial year 2017-18 under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), are as under:
Electrification of un-electrified village (UEV) - One Intensive Electrification of villages - 5,996. Free Electricity connection to BPL HHs - 85,686
(b): There is no upfront allocation of funds to any State/District under DDUGJY. Funds are released against sanctioned projects in installments based on the reported utilisation of amount in the previous installment(s) and fulfillment of other conditionalities as per DDUGJY guidelines. However, Government of India has allocated budgetary support of Rs.4814 crore for the year 2017-18 for DDUGJY projects in the country. (c) & (d): Under DDUGJY, access to electricity is provided to all the rural households and free electricity service connection is provided to all eligible Below Power Line (BPL) households in the country. Under the scheme, free electricity service connections to 40 lakh BPL Households are targeted in the country during the financial year 2017-18.
*********
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.85
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
IMPACT OF SURPLUS POWER ON BIO-MASS PLANTS IN ANDHRA PRADESH
85. DR. K.V.P. RAMACHANDRA RAO: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether it is a fact that several biomass plants were on the verge of closure due to availability of surplus power in Andhra Pradesh as it had stopped supply to Telangana; (b) if so, the details thereof; and (c) the details of the installed capacity of power generation and demand in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during the last three years?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )
(a) & (b) : No, Sir.
(c) : The details of the installed capacity of power generation and demand in
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during the last three years is given at Annex.
*************
ANNEX
ANNEX REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 85 ANSWERED IN THE RAJYA SABHA ON 17.07.2017.
***********
The installed capacity of power generation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as on 30.06.2017
(All figure in MW) State Conventional RES* Total Andhra Pradesh 15658.67 6164.42 21823.09Telangana 10280.61 1545.88 11826.49
* Installed capacity in respect of RES (MNRE) as on 31.03.2017
Demand of electricity in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during the last three years:
(in MW)
************
State 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 April to June, 2017 (provisional)
STATUS OF KAYAMKULAM THERMAL POWER PLANT 86. SHRI K.K. RAGESH: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Central Government is considering to handover the Kayamkulam thermal power plant to Kerala; and (b) if so, the details thereof?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )
(a) : No, Sir.
(b) : In view of reply to (a) above, question doesn’t arise.
*********
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.87
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
STATUS OF POWER GENERATION AND PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION IN THE COUNTRY
†87. SHRI MEGHRAJ JAIN: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) the details of the demand and supply of power in the country including Madhya Pradesh, State-wise; (b) the quantum of power generated by each State using its own resources during the last two years and the current financial year and the details of the quantum of power provided to each State from central power generating stations during the said period; and (c) whether the Central Government has sanctioned any power project for various States during the last two years and if so, the details of the said projects, State-wise?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL ) (a) : The State-wise details of demand and supply of power including Madhya Pradesh during the current year (April, 2017- June, 2017) are given at Annex-I. (b) : The quantum of power produced by each State/UT with its own resources and the quantum of power given from central generating stations (schedule) to each State/UT, during the last two years and the current year is given in Annex-II & III respectively. (c) : Electricity is a concurrent subject. As per Electricity Act, 2003, electricity generation is a delicensed activity and any State or generating company may establish a generating station.
However, hydro projects need Techno-economic Clearance. Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of 14 nos. of Hydroelectric Projects with aggregate installed capacity of 9,632 MW have been concurred by CEA since April, 2015. State-wise details of the same are given at Annex-IV.
**************
ANNEX-I
ANNEX REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 87 ANSWERED IN THE RAJYA SABHA ON 17.07.2017.
***********
Power Supply Position for 2017-18 (Provisional)
Energy Peak
State / April, 2017 - June,2017 April, 2017 - June,2017
All India 3,09,680 3,07,755 1,925 0.6 1,59,816 1,58,393 1,423 0.9 #Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands are stand- alone systems, power supply position of these, does not form part of regional requirement and availability
ANNEX-II
ANNEX REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 87 ANSWERED IN THE RAJYA SABHA ON 17.07.2017.
***********
State’s Own Gross Generation State Generation (Million Units)
14. Loktak Downstream Central LDHCL 66 Sub-Total 66 Total 9632
**************
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.88
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
WAIVER OF INTER-STATE SUPPLY CHARGES ON SOLAR POWER PROJECTS
88. SHRI N. GOKULAKRISHNAN:
DR. PRADEEP KUMAR BALMUCHU: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether it is a fact that Government has taken a decision to waive inter-State supply charges on solar power projects to make them feasible and to compete with thermal power projects; and (b) if so, the details thereof?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )
(a) & (b) : Ministry of Power, Government of India, vide Order dated 14th June 2017,
has extended the waiver of the inter-State transmission charges and losses for the
generation project based on solar resources for use of inter-state transmission system
(ISTS) network by such Projects commissioned till 31.12.2019, for a period of 25 years
from the date of commissioning of such projects.
Such waiver shall be available only for those projects entering into PPA with
Discoms for compliance of their renewable purchase obligation (RPO) and are awarded
through competitive bidding process.
***************
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.89
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
VIABILITY OF THERMAL POWER PLANTS
89. SHRI D. KUPENDRA REDDY: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether it is a fact that the country's thermal power plants would become economically unviable as reported in the media recently; (b) if so, the details thereof; and (c) the steps taken/being taken by Government to keep the thermal power plants of the country economically viable and productive?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )
(a) : No, Sir. (b) : Does not arise. (c) : The Government has taken the following measures to support thermal power plants: i. Ensuring Coal supply through a more Transparent Coal Allocation Policy for Power
Sector, 2017 namely Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala (Coal) Transparently in India (SHAKTI).
ii. Amended Mega Power Policy for Provisional Mega Power Projects
iii. Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme for Financial and Operational
Turnaround of power distribution utilities (DISCOMs) of the country.
iv. Augmenting Transmission capacity to remove transmission constraints.
v. Flexibility in utilisation of domestic coal for reducing the cost of power generation.
**********
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.90
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
IMPACT OF DEMONETISATION ON POWER SECTOR 90. SHRI A.K. SELVARAJ: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether demonetisation has turned out to be a positive event for the power sector with the distribution companies recovering pending power bills from their customers; (b) whether power sector could also benefit from relaxed lending and lower rates of interest among others; (c) whether banks are suddenly flushed with funds, all of which could relax lending to the power sector and potentially bring down interest rates beneficial to power sector; and (d) if so, the details thereof?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )
(a) : As per the information collated by Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the
collection of electricity dues for the period from 10th November 2016 to 15th December
2016 was approximately Rs.29,111.70 Crore against Rs.26,722.01 Crore of the
corresponding period of the previous year.
(b) to (d) : Lending rates are commercial decisions of Banks depending upon several
factors including liquidity, sectoral risks and the investment environment.
**************
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.91
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
REPLACEMENT OF OUTDATED PLANTS BY NTPC 91. SHRI A.K. SELVARAJ: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) would spend Rs.50,000 crore to replace outdated plants which are more than 25 years old; (b) if so, the details thereof; (c) whether NTPC is considering to replace the old and outdated plants by more efficient and less polluted modern units to reduce carbon emission; and (d) if so, the details thereof?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )
(a) to (d) : Ordinarily the life of thermal power generating stations is taken as 25 years
and can operate for a longer period depending on the condition of the plant. Review and
decommissioning of old plants is a continuous process. NTPC sets up new plants based on
the criteria of electricity demand from the states. Currently, NTPC is in the process of
setting up new high efficiency ultra supercritical plants at Patratu, Talcher Thermal and
Singrauli.
**************
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER
RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.92
ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017
SCHEME FOR REVIVAL OF STALLED POWER UNITS 92. SHRI ANAND SHARMA: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:
(a) whether the majority of assets in the power generation sector have been categorised as Non-Performing Assets (NPAs); (b) whether Government proposes to introduce a scheme to revive the stalled power units; and (c) if so, the details of the scheme and the target period by which the scheme would be implemented?
A N S W E R
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )
(a) : No, Sir.
(b) & (c) : Government has taken following measures to address stress in the power
sector:
i. Ensuring Coal supply through a more Transparent Coal Allocation Policy for
Power Sector, 2017 namely Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala (Coal) Transparently in India (SHAKTI).
ii. Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme for Financial and Operational Turn-around of power distribution utilities (DISCOMs) of the country.
iii. Augmenting Transmission capacity to remove transmission constraints.
………..2.
- 2 -
iv. Flexibility in utilisation of domestic coal for reducing the cost of power generation.
v. Power For All (PFA) initiative with 36 States and UTs for bringing uninterrupted quality of power to each household, industry, commercial business, small & medium enterprise and establishment, any other public needs and adequate power to agriculture consumer as per the state policy.
vi. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) for:
Separation of agriculture and non-agriculture feeders.
Strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution networks in the rural areas;
Metering of distribution transformers / feeders / consumers in the rural areas.
Rural Electrification
vii. Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) for:
Strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution networks in the urban areas;
Metering of distribution transformers / feeders / consumers in the urban area.
IT enablement of distribution sector and strengthening of distribution network.