About 1, 261 villages in Nagaland have been electrified as of 2015. The number appears to be relatively positive considering that there are about 1, 400 villages in the state and the benchmark achievement in the rural-electrification sector is almost cent-per-cent in comparison to other states in the country.

However, it is not enough as there are still a good number of villages in the state that continue to suffer without electricity.  Available records show that the rural-electrification program in the state is 90.1% making it one of the highest among the state pushing to equip every village with electricity supply.

A progress report of village electrification programs in the country prepared by the Central Electricity Authority shows that as on March 31, there are 129 villages in Nagaland that have no power supply.

However, this might change now that the central and state governments have decided to “ensure electrification of all the remaining un- electrified villages by 31st March 2017 in mission mode.”

Power ministers of all the states and union territories in the country have unanimously decided to ensure electrification of all the remaining un- electrified villages by 31st March 2017 “in mission mode.” The program is to be pursued under the Deendayal Upadhyaya Grameen Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY).

The members resolved to work in mission mode to complete the activities in the roll out plan for achieving the ‘24×7 Power for All by 2019’ or earlier.

It was decided that the states whose plan documents on ‘Power for All’ have not been prepared should get it expedited with the help of consultants and central team members so that all these documents are completed by December 31.

States have also resolved to ensure expeditious implementation of Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) projects by implementing them within 30 months from date of sanction. They have also resolved to achieve 15 % Aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses (AT & C) at national level by 2019-20. A state level mission will be established to plan smart grid activities in States.

States which are presently not having Right of Way (RoW) and Right of Use (RoU) / policy should take immediate step for having the same.

Further, the states have resolved to set targets for replacement for all existing conventional street lights and incandescent bulbs with LED by 2019. Nine States namely Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra , Karnataka, Tamil Nadu , Madhya Pradesh , Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have decided to replace 10 % of existing agricultural water pumps with Energy efficient pumps including solar within one year.

They have agreed to set up solar parks as per stipulated schedule and to mandate the installation of solar roof tops on government buildings. They have decided to encourage interstate and intrastate transmission of renewable energy through various measures like allowing open access, not charging wheeling charges, cross subsidy charges, banking charges etc.

States which are rich in wind resource agreed to put in place a mechanism for forecasting and scheduling of wind power by 1st January 2016.

In his concluding remarks, Piyush Goyal urged the states to take steps for clearing the dues of power generation companies by March 2016 so that next financial year can be started in a clean slate . The Minister appealed the states to stand by their commitments in additional allocation of power and renewable energy.

Ministers from fifteen states and Delhi attended the two day conference. They included C Kipli Sangtam, Minister for Power, representing the government of Nagaland.  Senior officials including central power, electricity and mine secretaries, and additional secretaries of states and union territories attended the conference.

Power and renewable energy ministers’ conference

Earlier, power and renewable energy ministers of the country met in a conference on November 6 in Kochi.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal had said that the Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) approved by the Union Cabinet will help in a big way in wiping out the losses of ‘discoms’ by 2019. Inaugurating the conference, he said that a clear roadmap had been drawn to solve the present crisis of discoms. The minister assured that apprehensions regarding the proposed amendments to the Electricity Act would be addressed.

Piyush Goyal also said that with the centre and states working together, the target which was set for six years for Renewable Energy production would be attained in four and half years. The Minister said “I am confident that we can achieve the Renewable energy targets, not necessarily six-and-half years from now but possibly even in four-and-half years from now, if we all work together as a team,”

India’s renewable energy plan

Referring to India’s announced renewable energy plan whereby the target for installed solar power capacity has been set at 100 GW by 2022, the Minister sought cooperation and support of the states to make it a reality by 2020, saying “it is a concern for the environment.”

“It is a concern for the better planet for next generation…. cannot be the concern of Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi alone, cannot be the concern of the Central government alone. …It has to be shared concern and the shared responsibility of all of us sitting in this room,” Goyal said while strongly pitching for an ambitious renewable energy targets much ahead of the declared timeframe.

The agenda of two days of deliberations include preparation and implementation of state-specific documents of 24×7 Power of All, Electrification of remaining un-electrified villages in mission mode, expeditious implementation of the DDUGJY, implementation of Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), Strategies for AT&C loss reduction, Smart Grid, Financial health of discoms, Advance transmission planning, Right of Way (RoW) issues in transmission projects, Green Energy Corridor I& II.

In the Thermal sector, discussions will be held on support of state governments for thermal projects in: land acquisition, ensuing congenial law & order situation, Coal swapping-methodology and benefits, Coal linkage policy and third party sampling of coal. Discussions will also be held on how to expedite the completion of 36 ongoing Hydropower Projects and to resolve issues related to eleven stranded or stalled projects and formulation of transparent and progressive Hydropower policy and resettlement & rehabilitation policy.

In the field of Energy conservation, there will be review on the progress of implementation of Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) and Street Light National Programme (SLNP).

Another topic of discussion would be promoting the use of Energy Efficient Agricultural Pump sets, Appliances and Energy Efficiency in industrial units through demand side management.

In the area of Renewable Energy, State wise review will be taken on the progress of fixing of RPOs, evacuation and transmission infrastructure to match the target of 1,75,000 MW by 2022 and achievement; progress of solar parks, solar pumps and projects on canal tops and banks sanctioned to states, exploring the feasibility of sanctioning 25 more solar parks to the states, identification of solar zones in states and rooftop SPV projects especially in regard to government buildings, educational and health institutions, expediting development of wind power projects and waiving of the intra-state transmission losses and charges for wind power projects.

(Al Ngullie)