Nagpur:- State Energy Minister Nitin Raut has promised free electricity to residential consumers if central government agrees with Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) ‘s demand for Rs10,000 crore grant.
During a national conference on Friday, Raut put forward this demand to Union power minister RK Singh but did not get any assurances.
The state energy minister also demanded low interest loans for MSEDCL, as it faced liquidity crunch due to the lockdown due to reduced collections. Raut also requested one lakh of subsidized agricultural solar pump sets for the state under Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Uhaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) at the Centre. Singh agreed to this proposal immediately.
Raut also informed Singh that in the coming years the state will decide to go 100% solar. The minister of the Union praised the state and asked others to emulate Maharashtra for this endeavour.
The minister told Singh that without the consent of states , the central government should not amend the Indian Electricity Act, 2003. According to Raut, even though electricity is in the Indian Constitution’s Concurrent List, Center is seeking to encroach on state powers. He charged the backdoor privatization of public sector undertakings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged Singh not to allow the same to happen in the power sector.
On flue gas desulphurizers (FGDs), Raut said other aspects of pollution control units should also be taken into account before mandatory use is made of them. “FGD uses gypsum which will become a headache for power plants to disposal. Therefore cement factories with FGDs should be set up near power plants in order to use the gypsum, “he told Singh.
The state minister ruled that coal companies refused to supply Mahagenco with coal grade contracts. “The Mahagenco coal gets is of lesser grade than the companies promised. Therefore Mahagenco should be allowed to pay according to the grade of coal supplied. This will result in a lot of savings for the generation businesses, “he said.
