State power ministers conference on 10 September
"One of the other issues is to fill the vacancies in the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions," said a power ministry official requesting anonymity.
The seventh conference of power ministers will take place against
the backdrop of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government
expanding the scope of audits and introducing new measures to speed up
the roll-out of its ambitious plan to provide electricity to villages
and below poverty line (BPL) households ahead of general election due in
2014.
The Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana was introduced in
April 2005 as part of the Bharat Nirman project to develop rural
infrastructure, at an initial project cost of Rs.1.76 trillion.
India
needs to plug the leaks in a power sector that's unable to meet demand,
especially in the backdrop of government efforts to revive flagging
economic growth. Grid failures for two days in a row last year led to
large parts of northern, eastern and north-eastern India being hit by a
blackout.
India's power sector, capable of generating 225,793.1
megawatts, has been hit by high borrowing costs, a funding crunch,
delays in land acquisition and project approvals such as environmental
clearances, and a fuel shortages.
Losses due to transmission and
billing inefficiencies and theft are estimated at around 27%. The
accelerated power development and reform programme (APDRP) was launched
in 2002-03 to upgrade distribution systems and cut transmission and
distribution losses to 15% by the end of 2007, but failed. A
restructured version of this, the Rs.51,577 crore R-APDRP, was
introduced in 2008.