Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday lauded the revolutionary steps taken by Haryana Government to reduce line losses of DISCOMs and further taking the state at a profitable position.
The Finance Minister said that the Secretary, Union Power Department would be asked to study Haryana’s model to get a better understanding of the blueprint followed by Haryana.
Sitharaman was chairing a high level meeting with Chief Ministers, State Finance Ministers, held through video conferencing here.
During the meeting, detailed discussions were held on creating an enabling ecosystem for increased pro-active facilitation for investments besides issues of energizing growth, reforms, augmenting investments and creating a reform-focused business climate.
The Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar informed that under the structural reforms in power sector, the State Government is making dedicated efforts to reduce the gross distribution and commercial deficit of DISCOMs under UDAY Yojana.
During the last five years, the gross distribution and commercial deficit declined from 30.02 percent in 2015-16 to 16.22 percent in 2020-21. Further, during 2017-18, DISCOMs have achieved operating/net profit of Rs 412 crore by achieving a financial turnaround two years ahead of the target year. This profit was Rs 291 crore in the year 2018-19 and Rs 331 crore in the year 2019-20, he informed.
The Chief Minister said that Haryana DISCOMS have signed MoU with Energy Efficient Services Limited to install 10 lakh smart meters in the next three years.
As many as 2.15 lakh smart meters have been installed in the state by December 2020. Smart metering project by DISCOMS includes several citizen-centric features like prepaid facility, trust reading-based billing, missed call facility to view electricity bill online, making bill payment through post offices, consumer satisfaction rate for new connection and average time of delivery services, he said.
Strategy based on four pillars formulated for the revival of the economy
Khattar said that due to efficient financial management during the crisis of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Haryana has been able to maintain the fiscal deficit at 2.90 percent of GSDP against the sanctioned limit of 5 percent for the year 2020-21.
The state has also successfully controlled its debt liability, as the debt to GSDP ratio stood at 23.27 percent in 2020-21. Strategy for the revival of the economy adopted by the State Government to achieve a 'V shape' recovery and pave the way for the revival of the economy, a four-pillar strategy was adopted by the State Government, he said.
The Chief Minister further said that health, agriculture and infrastructural reforms especially road and rail connectivity have been identified as the key priority sectors for the recovery and revival of the state's economy.
In order to strengthen the economy of Haryana through Reserve Fund capital investment, the State Government has prepared a new strategy for large capital projects by creating Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) in the budget. Under this, a reserve fund of Rs 8,585 crore has been allocated as MTEF in budget 2021-22, which is a significant change, he said, while adding that MTEF will be used for the implementation of highly specialized projects focused on health, agriculture and infrastructure.
These special projects include expansion of medical infrastructures such as upgradation of district hospitals to 200 beds, the establishment of mother and child hospitals, International Horticulture Market in Ganaur, Micro Irrigation Projects, Orbital Rail Corridor, High Speed Rail between Delhi and Karnal. Connectivity and expansion of the metro network in Gurugram and other areas, he added.
Parivar Pehchan Patra to pave the way for improving ease of living of citizens
The Chief Minister also said that rapid progress has been made in the successful implementation of the State Government’s ambitious Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) scheme. This initiative will pave the way for paperless, faceless service delivery to citizens as well as will also play a pivotal role in improving the ease of living index of the families identified under PPP.
The scheme aims to reach out to those at the bottom of the pyramid while upholding the spirit of Antyodaya, he said. He said that Haryana has been at the forefront in implementing the reforms directed by the Central Government. The state has completed all 301 reforms mandated under the Business Reform Action Plan (2020-21). In addition, the state implemented all 45 reforms related to the District Reform Action Plan-2019, the Chief Minister added.