Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Friday said that the first need of development is availability of electricity.
The states having power cuts of longer duration cannot be considered as developed states, he observed.
Singh was delivering address at the 57th meeting of 'Forum of Regulator' — a joint forum of power regulatory commissions of various states here.
He said that regulatory commissions play an important role in maintaining power tariffs, in larger interest of consumers. Right from hearing of consumers' grievances to maintaining balance and coordination between production and distribution companies, power regulatory commissions looks after all such works.
Singh said : ‘When I took charge as Chief Minister, I had a big challenge of electrifying even the remotest villages of the State before me. At that time, per capita power consumption in Chhattisgarh was only 670 units. We extended electricity line to ensure electricity supply from Bijapur to Balrampur.’
The State Government is constantly working in the direction to achieve the target of expanding power production capacity and distributing it to each and every village of the State, he said.
As a result, per capita power consumption in state has increased to 1670 units at present, Singh said.
He said that along with conventional thermal power, non-conventional sources and solar energy is also being tapped for electricity production in Chhattisgarh. Arrangements to produce electricity using hay are also being made.
The Chief Minister said that electricity producing states have to face the pros and cons of power production.
Hence, it is necessary to pay special attention on interests of power producing States.
Singh expressed hope that important suggestion for establishing balance between power tariff, electricity producers and consumers' interest will be received in this meeting of power regulatory forums, he said.
On the occasion, Chairman of Central Power Regulatory Commission and Regulators Forum Girish Pradhan said that Chhattisgarh has been established as power hub of the country.
Chairman of Chhattisgarh State Power Regulatory Commission Narayan Singh said that Chief Minister Raman Singh has played an important role in making Chhattisgarh a power surplus State.
On the occasion, Additional Chief Secretary of Energy Department N Baijendra Kumar, Secretary Regulators Forum Shubha Sharma were also present.
Besides, representatives of power regulatory commissions of Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and other states attended the meeting.