Idea is to bring more consumers into billing cycle: Power Secy

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Power Secretary, Government of India spoke about the latest happenings in the sector and growth going ahead.

Bhalla said that electricity demand has increased and current plant load factor (PLF) is at 59.8 percent.

He further said that we have seen a rise in absolute demand of power in all quarters this financial year.

According to him, PLF might not be the correct criteria to judge demand of power.

On tariff policy, he said we are finalising draft of the policy. Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses will be capped from April 1, 2019, he added.

We expect some Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) to achieve Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) AT&C loss targets, he said.

He also mentioned that the state government supported the idea to bring down AT&C loss.

Bhalla further mentioned that our idea is to bring more consumers into billing cycle.

Talking about gas based plant, he said we have provided subsidised gas for last two years.

We don't see sense in providing subsidy to gas plants in current environment, Bhalla mentioned.

For entire interview, watch accompanying video.