Conference of State Power Secretaries ends today Mr. Anil Razdan said, “21st Century is century of Water”

Mr. Anil Razdan, Union Secretary, Ministry of Power said that the government is seriously thinking of evolving a viable and friendly rehabilitation package for people displaced on account of new hydel projects.” The 21st century is the Century of water and every effort will be done to conserve and utilize water for the betterment of the humanity “he added

He was addressing a Conference of State Power Secretaries organized by PHD Chamber in the capital today, Mr. Razdan said that some of the suggestions considered by the government are “out of the box” such as building small cities near places where rehabilitation has taken place so that the displaced persons can find easy employment.   The tourist spot also can be developed around the water reservoirs. This will ensure that the dam peripheral is not converted into dumping ground.  He also said that the government will be soon setting up a high powered committee to look into various options for rehabilitation.

Mr. Razdan observed that in any kind of development the state governments and local bodies should be involved so that the displaced persons become stakeholders in the development projects.  In this regard, he mentioned about the policy of the government to give 100 units of power to displaced persons free of cost.  Also, rupees two lakh every year is being given for taking care of the development works of the displaced persons. He also suggested that a ferry service was required for people on opposite sides of the bank for their convenience. The Government is also ensuring that semiskilled workers should be from the local I T I’s and first right of employment should be for local unskilled laborers.

Mr Razdan wanted civil society and business associations to get actively involved in the development process of  the country .

Mr. Deepak Gupta, Union  Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said that there is a huge potential for tapping solar and wind energy in the country.  He said that the government is considering giving 20% capital subsidy to IT companies, manufacturing solar equipment. The other projects which are in the pipeline included solar thermal projects and programmes for sensitizing the rural masses for switching over to alternative sources of energy. 

Mr. Gupta observed that the by 12th FYP the nation would get a boost for developing the alternative sources of energy. There are already many projects which are underway for augmenting the power generation in the 11th Plan.  In this regard he said that a package of incentives would be drawn up for linking generation of power and not capacity.  

One day annual power secretary’s conference was held At the PHD Chamber today. This conference gains importance as it’s been organized at a crucial time. National Energy Security has emerged as a issue of concern on account of increasing oil prices and today’s conference is an endeavor of the PHD Chamber to bring together the Central and State Governments of the north at a common platform to discuss with experts from industry the practical answers to strengthen the power sector.

The focus of the conference was to discuss the road map for accelerating development of hydro power projects, particularly storage projects in the next decade; suggest the policy approach to develop solar- thermal power, and; calling upon the States to adopt appropriate policies for sustainable development of power sector duly supported by unavoidable and bold reforms.

It is a matter of concern for the country that power shortage in the northern region varies between 2% in Delhi to over 22% in Punjab. For the Country as a whole the energy deficit is over 13% and the peaking shortage is over 17%. Demand of power is at least 25% suppressed on account of deficiencies in capacity creation and distribution. There has been exponential growth of Telecom sector after reforms and a similar picture seems to be true for the power sector as well.

Investments shall flow into the power sector on a sustainable basis provided distribution reforms are implemented in the States with a view to create conditions for establishing link between supply of power and recovery of bills. In short, distribution reforms shall lead to strengthen the financial condition of the sector and this in turn shall enable the Financial Institutions to fund power sector with a smile.

The others who spoke at the meeting included Mr Ravi Wig, Chairman, NRD Council; Mr. Ashok Lavasa, Principal Power Secretary, Haryana; Mr. Sanjay Bandhopadhyay, Secretary Energy, Madhya Pradesh; Mr. A S Miglani, Additional Secretary, Punjab; Mr. K C Gupta, Director, Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. Jaipur; Mr. Arvind Kaul, Former Chief Secretary, HP & Ex-Chairman, HPSEB.