The Central Government has notified generation linked projects in Chhattisgarh and Odisha with a view to encouraging participation of Private sector in building the Transmission capacity in India, officials stated. It had notified 14 power transmission schemes worth Rs33,900 crore during 2014-15 across the country.
Nine schemes worth Rs12,272 crore were notified in July 2014 and five more transmission schemes worth Rs21,659 crore were notified in February 2015. All these projects had been allocated to the Bid Process Coordinator (BPC) namely REC Transmission Projects Company limited (RECTPCl) and PFC Consulting limited (PFCCl) for carrying out bidding under Tariff based competitive bidding (TBCB) route.
The bid process is underway by both the BPCs. These transmission schemes includes 765 kV and 400 kV transmission system strengthening schemes in the Northern, Western, Southern, North Eastern Regions and would facilitate transfer of Power from new Hydro electric projects in Bhutan and the generation linked projects in Chhattisgarh and Odisha etc.
Notably, Chhattisgarh now has a total of 88 very High Tension (HT) Power Sub-centres with a development of a massive network of more than 10,000 kms of HT power line. During the formation of the State, there were only 27 very High Tension lines, officials stated.
The Chhattisgarh Government has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Telangana for selling 1000 Megawatt of power to the newly formed State. The State since its formation was aware of the fact that without sufficient power availability, development is impossible. Accordingly, the Energy policies of State were formulated and executed.
Several power generation units in Chhattisgarh have set record of ‘running without any tripping’. The Gangrel Hydel Power unit in year 2013-14 produced 43.348 million units of power which was highest since the setting up of this plant. Similarly, the small Hydel power plants have also produced 8.269 million units of electricity which is also a record, he added.
Due to policies adopted by State government, the power generation in private sector has registered four-fold increase. In 2006-07, the private sector was producing 1000 MW of power which now has jumped to 4650 MW in recent years, he said.
Currently there are 128 captive power plants in Chhattisgarh with total capacity of 11,000 MW in 12th five-year plan government has planned to produce 20,000 MW power in Chhattisgarh, he said. With increased production the power distribution has also seen huge expansion. Moreover. as long as 1.36 lakh kilometre increase has been registered in the power supply lines of different capacity during the last 11 years in Chhattisgarh.
Since the formation of the State, about 1.50 lakh kilometre extension has so far been made in different capacity power lines in the State, officials stated.
The Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company ltd (CSPDCl) officers said that with the addition of these lines, the total length of power lines in the State has reached to 2,54,721 kms. Out of this, 1,54,311-km is of low Tension (lT) and 83,311-km 11 kV capacity line and 17,384 km 33 kV capacity lines. At the time of formation of the State, the total capacity of power lines was 1,04,858 km.
Along with the extension of power supply lines, rural electrification has also been speeded up. The percentage of rural electrification in 2001 was 90.71, which now has increased to 97.39 per cent. From December 2003 to July 31, 2014, electrification of 1,154 villages has been done. Electrification of 446 villages has been done through conventional and 706 villages through non-conventional methods by CREDA.
Since formation of Chhattisgarh, till November 31, 2003, 119 villages had been electrified through conventional and 102 through non-conventional energy. Now, total 19,057 villages have been electrified in the State. During the period, the number of electrified major settlements has been increased to 25,048.
Moreover, gone are the days when people had to wait in long queues and repeatedly visit the offices of electricity department for works like payment of bill, new connection and complaints, officials stated.
All these services are now available online, through SMS, e-mail, mobile short code service and Central Call Centre started by the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company limited (CSPDCl).
The online services started by the company are not only saving time and money of the consumer but also reducing physical and mental stress, officials stated. To improve the customer service, a Data Center has been established by CSPDCl at Dangnia in Raipur. The Data Center established on 1650 square feet has a storage capacity of 110 terabyte, officials said.
They said that for providing power backup to the Data Center, a UPS system of 300 KVA capacity has been installed there. The power is supplied to the Data Center by two 500 KVA transformers with auto-change over facility. Similarly, at the centralized Call Center as many as 30 lines are available on telephone number 1912. The customers can lodge their complaints 24X7 on this helpline, officials said.
The officials said that the company is using advanced technology systems to provide more and more good services to the consumers. The Energy Information Technology Centre of the company has started innovative works under the R-APDRP scheme.