Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Union Heavy Industries &Public Enterprises, Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on January 18, 2020, inaugurated ELECRAMA 2020, at India Expo Mart in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. ELECRAMA is the flagship showcase of the Indian electrical industry and a platform to connect the world with Indian industry in respect of technology, new trends, and innovation for future energy transition.
Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) R K Singh and Minister of Industries in Uttar Pradesh Government, Statish Mahana were also present on the occasion.
Javadekar said that the annual growth of energy should be 10% for many years to come even if the country’s economy grows at the rate of 6% annually. Referring to demand for more relief by the industry, he said that industry’s cause must translate into societal cause for the benefit of society as well as the industry. He said that electricity for a poor household is not only a facility but also an empowerment.
He also referred to electrification of 18,000 unelectrified villages and congratulated Power Minister R K Singh for fulfilling this commitment of PM Narendra Modi within a timeframe of 1,000 days. He further stated that 3.5 crore households were given power connections under SAUBHAGYA (Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana) scheme.
Javadekar asked the electrical industry to focus on quality of electrical equipment stating that main cause of fire incidents in many cases is poor quality of equipment and faulty wiring. The Minister urged the power industry to become part of product chain and not just supplier of spare parts. He mentioned the success story of LED bulbs which led to saving of thousands of crores of rupees in power bills to the customers and also protecting environment through installation of 400 million LED bulb.
Emphasising on the quality of electrical goods, Javadekar said there can be no compromise on quality. People want ease of living and new facilities for which electricity is an asset, he pointed out. People will need more electricity and more electrical equipment and therefore demands of power as well as electrical goods are bound to go up, said the Minister. He said that the per capita consumption of energy is very low in India compared to developed countries.
Javadekar said that electrical vehicle is the future of India and the work on it has begun. Electrical vehicles will reduce environmental pollution and also lead to efficiency in use of energy. He informed that there are around 5 lakh electrical vehicles including two- wheelers and four- wheelers in the country, according to a PIB release.
Speaking on the occasion, Power Minister R K Singh said that the electricity sector has been transformed in the last few years and the whole country has been connected with one grid and one frequency. Now India has become power surplus country and is exporting power. He said that investment in transmission and distribution system is continuing and will pick up pace. The Power Minister said that per capita consumption need to be tripled to reach the global average of 3,600 units. He said that government is revamping energy tariff policy and any subsidy, that has to be given to any category of electricity consumers by the State Governments, should be done through direct benefit transfer scheme.
He said that the government is coming out with a new trajectory of loss reduction and distribution companies will have to follow this trajectory if they want to get further grants from the Central Government or if they want to access loans from Power Finance Corporation.