Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has claimed that it is fully geared up to ensure power supply as per the demand to meet the unprecedented demand due to the intense heatwave sweeping the state.
The UPPCL said it created a record by supplying 27,611 megawatt electricity on June 13.
UPPCL Chairman M Devraj said here on Wednesday that demand for power could go beyond 28,000 MW as there was still some time for the monsoon to reach Uttar Pradesh.
Devraj said the UPPCL was constantly working for upgrading and strengthening the power distribution network and over 3.15 lakh transformers had so far been replaced. He said the Centrally-sponsored Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) with an outlay of Rs 35,384 crore was being implemented across the state for improving the power distribution network.
As per the data of the SLDC (State Load Dispatch Centre), power supply to the rural and urban areas is being supplied as per schedule. The rural areas are being supplied electricity for 21 hours 30 minutes against the schedule of 18 hours while the big cities and district headquarters are getting 24-hour supply.
The UPPCL chairman said under the RDSS, over 15,000 km of cable would be laid and low tension power distribution lines would be constructed. He said over 11,791 km of overhead low tension distribution lines would be replaced by underground cables.
Devraj said under the RDSS, so far 1,137 km of underground cables had been laid and over 200 km of underground distribution lines had been completed.
The Central government has approved the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme to help power distribution companies (discoms) to improve their operational efficiencies and financial sustainability by providing result-linked financial assistance to them to strengthen supply infrastructure based on meeting pre-qualifying criteria and achieving basic minimum benchmarks. The scheme has an outlay of Rs 3,03,758 crore over five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
The objectives of the scheme are reduction of aggregate technical and commercial losses to pan-India levels of 12-15 per cent by 2024-25, reduction of average cost of supply-average revenue realised (ACS-ARR) to zero by 2024-25, and improvement in the quality, reliability and affordability of power supply to consumers through a financially sustainable and operationally efficient distribution sector.
The components of the scheme are – financial support for prepaid smart metering and system metering and up-gradation of the distribution infrastructure and training and capacity building and other enabling and supporting activities.