Modi advisor slams state-run utilities; supports bigger role for micro-grids
NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, in comments supporting the role of private micro-grids for rural electrification, says that DISCOMs are the main barriers to scale. The comments come as the government prepares a new energy policy for India.
“DISCOMs are not merely inefficient, but they create the biggest hurdle for the creation of micro-grids,” Kant said at the launch of a new company by Tata Power and The Rockefeller Foundation, TP Renewable Micro-grid. “Our job will be really to ensure that we not merely bypass the DISCOMs, but ensure that these DISCOMs become catalysts for growth.”
“Left to these DISCOMs, nothing will happen. They need to go bust before micro-grids in India can take off,” he added. “We need to ensure that [the DISCOMs] become the facilitators, they become the catalysts for growth of micro-grids in India.”
Kant called for single-window clearance for all micro-grid regulatory approvals, including right of way, as well as fast dispute resolution, and provision by DISCOMs for sale of micro-grid power.
India drafted a national micro-grid policy and was ready to enact it three years ago, but eventually ended up shelving it and pursuing a pure grid-extension model through its Saubhagya program. While that program has been declared a success — claiming 100% village electrification — many businesses and households are still without power, and even those with power suffer from poor reliability and quality.
TP Renewable Micro-grid plans to build 10,000 micro-grids by 2026, serving 5 million households and creating 10,000 new jobs.
