MC Exclusive | Capacity addition, lower AT&C losses top RK Singhs wishlist for Modi 3.0

With the general elections scheduled in April-May, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh listed out his top priorities with the hope that the Narendra Modi government will return for the third consecutive term. "The top priority once the government led by Modi is back in power will be increasing our electricity generation capacity. The other priority will be to reduce the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses of distribution companies (discoms) to about 10 percent," Singh said during a fireside chat at Moneycontrol's Policy Next Summit in Delhi on January 18. "Rest, India is already a leader in energy transition, so I am not worried about the country's renewable energy targets. We will overachieve it anyway," he said. He said capacity addition is important to keep up with India's growing energy demand.

“Since our country is going to continue growing at 7.5 percent or more for the next three decades, we will have to ensure enough electricity. In 2030, our peak demand is going to go up from 241 GW today to 366 GW. Our established capacity has to go up to 900 GW, from about 427 GW today," the power minister said. Giving an overview of the ongoing capacity additions in the power sector, the Union minister said the government is adding around 99,000 megawatt (MW) of renewable energy capacity, which is under construction. Another about 32,000 MW is under various bidding processes.

Besides, the government has decided to bid 50,000 MW of renewable energy projects every year.On thermal capacity addition plan, Singh said the government will add 87,000 MW (87 GW) by 2030. "About 27,000 MW is under construction. In addition, we have bid out about 12,000 MW of thermal capacity. Another, 21,000 MW coal-fired capacity is under survey and investigation. Further, about 22,000 MW are under initial stages, where we have identified the land," he said. Singh said the government intends to increase India's hydropower capacity from the current 47,000 MW to about 90,000-100,000 MW.

Talking about reduction of AT&C losses of discoms, the Union minister said he has set a fresh target of reducing it to 10-11 percent.AT&C losses are a combination of energy loss and commercial loss. While energy loss may comprise technical loss, theft, and inefficiency in billing, commercial loss constitutes default in payment and inefficiency in the collection. In 2021, the government had set the target to bring down AT&C losses to 12-15 percent by the financial year 2025. However, going by the latest provisional data, the government is likely to have achieved this target two years in advance.According to data from the power ministry, AT&C losses were as high as 25.5 percent in FY13. Till FY21, the AT&C losses stood at 22.3 percent. However, in FY22 it drastically declined to 16.4 percent. As per provisional data, in FY23, India's average AT&C losses have further come down to 13.5 percent.