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Union Minister for Power and Housing and Urban Affairs, Manohar Lal, reviewed the power sector scenario for Andaman and Nicobar Islands (AN&Is) at Sri Vijaya Puram on Friday.
LG of UT of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, D K Joshi was present in the meeting. The meeting was also attended by senior officials of the UT administration, Ministry of Power, Government of India (GoI), and senior officials of the Power Sector CPSEs. As per Power Ministry, "The meeting started with a presentation on the brief overview of the Power Sector Scenario in the UT of AN&Is. In the course of the presentation, the present status of power availability, power generation and the gap between demand and supply was highlighted. Also, major challenges and possible solutions were highlighted." Thereafter, officials from the Ministry of Power gave a presentation on the projects of interconnection of the Island through grid and distribution infrastructure augmentation works sanctioned by the Government of India under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) in the UT which would help in improving the power supply quality and availability across the islands. Additionally, issues related to the current energy mix were also discussed. In his address, Manohar Lal, Union Minister of Power and Housing and Urban Affairs mentioned that it is his first visit to the AN&Is. "This visit to the UT will be important in understanding and in the resolution of the issues in the Power sector in the UT," he said. He emphasized on the need for reducing dependence on diesel-based generation by increasing share of renewable sources of power generation, especially wind energy, in the archipelago and working towards energy storage. This will result in reducing per unit energy cost. The minister also mentioned exploring the possibility for alternate sources of energy generation like ethanol-based. Further, the importance of Electric Vehicles (EV) and EV Charging stations was also emphasised. He also highlighted the need for timely settlement of dues of the Government departments and asked the UT administration to strive to improve AT&C losses and the ACS-ARR Gap. He also advised the UT administration to make all-out efforts for expeditious implementation of the sanctioned works under RDSS as well as to implement reforms prescribed under the scheme. He mentioned that sincere efforts will go a long way in making the electricity department financially viable and the UT self-sufficient for its power requirements. Union Minister assured for continued support and cooperation of the Government of India in the overall development of the UT. (ANI)
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