Haryana to commission 215 additional power sub-stations

CHANDIGARH, October 25: To strengthen the power transmission and distribution system in the state, Haryana government has planned to commission 215 additional sub-stations of various capacities in the next three years. "Also, as many as 418 existing sub-stations would be augmented and 3,171-km transmission and distribution lines would be laid in the next three years," an official spokesman said here today. He said that the BJP government in the state, has taken several initiatives to improve power supply in Haryana during the past twelve months. The Haryana government had launched the 'Mhara Gaon - Jagmag Gaon' scheme on July 1, 2015, for improving power supply in rural areas and reducing the AT&C losses, the official said. Under this scheme, power supply to 83 selected feeders covering 230 villages has been increased from 12 hours to 15 hours every day. Power Distribution System in the selected feeders is also being strengthened and consumers are being motivated to pay bills regularly, he said. For further stability of the distribution system in rural areas, the Central government has approved an outlay of Rs 316 crore under the 'Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana'. Similarly, a sum of Rs 390 crore has been approved under Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) for strengthening of the distribution system in urban areas, he said. Apart from this, the Kalyanpur-Badalpara coal mine was allocated to Haryana during the past one year, he said. "This mine was earlier allocated jointly to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The coal from this mine would be used for setting up 800-MW unit number 3 at Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram thermal power plant in Yamunanagar," he said. He also said that it has been decided in-principle to develop a 'Smart Grid' in Gurgaon with the help of the Central government at an estimated cost of Rs 7,000 crore. "In order to make electricity cheaper for consumers, the State government has decided in-principle to phase out the old and inefficient units number 1 to 4 of the Panipat thermal power station and replace them with a new 800-MW Supercritical Unit. "The government is also considering the possibility of setting up this new unit at the pit head through a private power generator," he added.