Relevance: GS-3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways.

Key Phrases : Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya - Power @2047, Revamped distribution sector scheme, National Solar rooftop portal, Energy industry, Fossil and non-fossil fuels, Renewable energy, Solar energy, Wind power, Biomass, Hydropower, Paris Agreement, AT& C losses, DISCOMs, Infrastructure upgrade performance.

'Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya - Power @2047':

• It was organised across the country as part of ongoing 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'.
• It highlights the transformation in the power sector achieved in the last eight years.
• In this programme, the prime minister launched the revamped distribution sector scheme.
• Prime minister also dedicated and laid the foundation stone of various green energy projects. i.e.
  • 100 MW Ramagundam Floating Solar Project in Telangana.
    • Ramagundam project is India’s largest floating solar PV project with 4.5 lakh ‘Made in India’ solar PV modules.
  • 92 MW Kayamkulam Floating Solar Project in Kerala.
    • It is the second largest floating solar PV project consisting of 3 lakh ‘Made in India’ solar PV panels floating on water
  • 735 MW Nokh Solar Project in Rajasthan.
    • It is India’s largest Domestic Content Requirement based solar project with 1000 MWP at a single location.
  • Green Hydrogen Mobility Project in Leh.
    • This pilot project would be the first deployment of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles for public use in India.
  • Kawas Green Hydrogen Blending with Natural Gas project in Gujarat.
    • This will be India’s first Green Hydrogen Blending Project helping in reducing the usage of natural gas.
• Prime Minister urged the states to pay off debts owed to power companies of over Rs 2.5 lakh crore in order to support the energy industry, which is critical to boosting economic growth.

Power sector in India:

• India is the third-largest producer and second-largest consumer of electricity worldwide, with an installed power capacity of 403 GW, as of June 30th 2022.
• In India, power is generated from various sources such as Fossil and non-fossil fuels.
  • Fossil fuel includes Coal (51%), Gas (6%), Lignite and Diesel, and its share in total installed generation capacity is nearly 60%.
  • Non fossil fuel includes Renewable Energy and Nuclear Energy sources and it contributes to the remaining (40%) installed capacity.
• As of June 30th 2022, India's installed renewable energy capacity stood at 159 GW, representing 39.70 % of the overall installed power capacity.
  • 50.30 GW from Solar energy.
  • 40.1 GW from wind power.
  • 10.17 GW from biomass.
  • 46.51 GW from hydropower.
• In world, India’s ranks is
  • Fourth in wind power,
  • Fifth in solar power,
  • Fourth in renewable power installed capacity.
• India is the only country among the G20 nations that is on track to achieve the targets under the Paris Agreement.

Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme:

• It is a Reforms-based and Results-linked Scheme with an outlay of Rs.3, 03,758 crore over a period of five years from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26.
• It launched with the objective to improve the quality, reliability and affordability of power supply to consumers through a financially sustainable and operationally efficient distribution sector.
• The Scheme aims to reduce the AT& C losses to pan-India levels of 12-15% and ACS-ARR(Average Cost of Supply and Average Revenue Realised) gap to zero by 2024-25 by improving the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of all DISCOMs/ Power Departments excluding Private Sector DISCOMs.
• DISCOMs/ Power Departments would be able to access funds under the Scheme for Pre-paid Smart Metering, System Metering and Distribution infrastructure works for loss reduction and modernization.
• The Scheme provides for annual appraisal of the DISCOM performance against predefined and agreed upon performance trajectories including
  • AT&C losses,
  • ACS-ARR gaps,
  • Infrastructure upgrade performance,
  • Consumer services,
  • Hours of supply,
  • Corporate governance.
• The Scheme has a major focus on improving electricity supply for the farmers through separation of agriculture feeders and for providing daytime electricity to them by convergence with PM-KUSUM.

Issues faced by Power Sector in India:

• Underutilization of installed capacity due to extremely low plant load factor.
• AT&C (Aggregate Technical and Commercial Loss) in India is more than 20%.
• Poor performance of state electricity boards and problems with balance sheets of state DISCOMs
• Limited role of private and foreign entrepreneurs and politicization of the issue.
• Shortage of Inputs such as coal especially due to transportation issues affects power generation as was recently highlighted in the media.
• Pattern of electricity consumption in India is still unpredictable and this affects the power demand curve and causes a rise in the peak power demand.
• Government Policies such as electricity bill waivers cause an imbalance in the overall budget of the Power sector.

Government Initiatives

The government of India has initiated several initiatives and policies for the development and improvement of power sector. Key schemes are discussed below:

• Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram JyotiYojana (DDUGJY):
  • The government launched the DDUGJY for rural areas.
  • It has components like
    • Separation of agriculture and non-agricultural feeders.
    • Strengthening and augmentation of sub-transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural areas including metering at distribution transformers, feeders and consumers’ end.
    • Rural electrification.
• Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS):
  • The government launched the IPDS for urban areas.
  • It has components like
    • Strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution networks in urban areas,
    • Metering of distribution transformers/feeders/ consumers in urban areas,
    • IT enablement of distribution sector and strengthening distribution network.
• URJA (Urban Jyoti Abhiyaan):
  • In order to rate the performance of DISCOMS, an app-based digital initiative URJA is launched to place before the people, the performance of DISCOMS in IT-enabled towns, with a vision to generate a sense of positive competition amongst the stakeholders and urge all concerned for better performance in all consumer-centric parameters.

  UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana):

  • In order to improve the financial health and operational efficiency of DISCOMs, the government of India launched UDAY in 2015.
  • Under this scheme, DISCOMs can convert their debt into state government bonds on certain stringent conditions.

Way Forward

• Energy and power sectors have a huge role to play in accelerating India's progress in the next 25 years.
• The strength of the energy sector is also important for Ease of Doing Business and is equally important for Ease of Living.
• The projects launched today are significant steps in the direction of green energy and energy security for the county. These projects will strengthen India’s renewable energy goals, commitment and aspirations of its green mobility.

Sources: PIB-Gov

Mains Question:

Q. Discuss the issues faced by the power sector in India and suggest measures to tackle these issues. [250 Words].