Energy Minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy has asked the department officials to prepare an action plan for increasing public participation in power sector from mandal level to towns and cities, and to conduct substation level meetings to improve consumer services.
In a meeting organised in virtual mode with Special Chief Secretary (energy) K. Vijayanand after completion of the Prime Minister’s interaction with electricity consumers as part of the ‘Ujjwal Bharat-Ujjwal Bhavishya’ programme on July 30, Mr. Ramachandra Reddy said that the government was keen on making the power sector vibrant for sustainable development of the State.
Apart from reducing the transmission and distribution (T&D) losses, fixing meters to agricultural pumpsets, taking up renewable energy and pumped hydro storage projects among a slew of initiatives, the State is implementing Central schemes such as the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grama Jyoti Yojana and Integrated Power Development Scheme.
The State government is also laying underground cables in Visakhapatnam as part of the Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project at a cost of about ₹720 crore with financial assistance from the World Bank.
Having rolled out so many programmes, the government felt the need for greater public participation for their success, the Minister said.
Referring to the ‘Ujjwal Bharat Mahotsav’, Mr. Vijayanand said there was an overwhelming response from the stakeholders in 52 locations in 26 districts, where it was organised.
AP-Transco CMD B. Sreedhar, Joint MD B. Malla Reddy (vigilance & security) and I. Prudhvi Tej (HR and admin), DISCOMs’ CMDs K. Santosha Rao (EPDCL) and J. Padma Janardhana Reddy (CPDCL) and NREDCAP VC and MD S. Ramana Reddy and AP-Transco Directors A.K.V. Bhaskar (grid) and K. Muthupandian (finance) were present.
