The Centre is working in collaboration with states to find out a permanent solution to make <g data-gr-id="73">stress</g> of <g data-gr-id="35">discoms</g> a “thing of the past”, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said here on Tuesday.
Talking about his recent meetings with Chief Secretaries of the states on power issues, including ailing <g data-gr-id="39">discoms</g>, the minister said, “We had very good meetings. The states and the Centre are working together as one. The states are also conscious of their responsibilities.”
In two to three years, the <g data-gr-id="40">discom</g> distress would become a thing of the past, he added. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the National Biogas Convention 2015.
“The Centre is handholding them and supporting them in various ways to ensure that together we don’t look at the short-term solution to this problem (of ailing <g data-gr-id="30">discoms</g>),” the minister said.
He further said the government is committed to <g data-gr-id="48">finding</g> a permanent solution of the <g data-gr-id="43">discom</g> problem and “I am delighted that all the states uniformly have supported our ideas”. Goyal had earlier said the Centre cannot be considered as a bailout bank for helping debt-ridden power distribution companies, and states will have to find a way out of the crisis.
The combined debt of power distribution companies (<g data-gr-id="31">discoms</g>) stands at over Rs 3 lakh crore. Faced with acute financial stress, many of these are unable to buy power.
The minister had clarified: “Some states have <g data-gr-id="45">serious</g> crisis (power) looming large. But at the end of the day, the Government of India can only facilitate the turnaround of these <g data-gr-id="36">discoms</g>. And we cannot finance it.” On <g data-gr-id="44">extension</g> of the financial restructuring package (FRP), he had said the government has not finalised it.
Originally introduced in April 2012, FRP was implemented in October 2013. In an attempt to restore power purchasing capacity of the debt-heavy <g data-gr-id="32">discoms</g> and enable banks to recover their loans, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved the scheme for financial restructuring of state <g data-gr-id="37">discoms</g> in September 2012.
‘Our Govt fully committed to fertiliser & bio-gas mission'
The government on Tuesday said it’s committed to the national biogas and fertiliser mission and will provide all the support to facilitate the same.
Inaugurating the National Biogas Convention here on Tuesday, Goyal said decentralisation of power is the fastest way to provide energy access to people.
In order to take energy to the last mile, “we have to ensure decentralised power production across the country”, the ministry said in a release.
“India is already the world leader in small-scale and low-cost biogas purification technology,” the release quoted the minister as saying.
The minister wanted the participants to create a framework for facilitating scientific exploration in
the country.