BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government on Tuesday reiterated its demand for financial assistance from the Centre for developing a disaster-resilient power infrastructure in the state.
Deputy chief minister-cum-Energy minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo raised the state’s demand before Union Power minister Manohar Lal Khattar in New Delhi. In a meeting with Khattar, Singh Deo also discussed about various critical concerns in power sector in Odisha and requested for favourable consideration on all the issues.
Drawing his attention to the proposals pending before the Power ministry for consideration, Singh Deo said Odisha being a coastal state faces cyclone and flood at regular intervals. In order to build a robust infrastructure in the power distribution sector to withstand extreme weather events like cyclones and floods, the state needs an early sanction of Rs 3,069 crore under Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) of the Centre.
The proposed disaster-resilient power infrastructure included selective underground cabling of 30 km in the coastal areas of the state. Therefore, the state urgently needs central financial assistance for the project.
The state government has submitted a proposal of Rs 6,284 crore under RDSS with focus on reducing power outages, socio-economic losses, and ensure uninterrupted power supply by strengthening transmission and distribution networks. A major part of the proposal amounting to Rs 4,248 crore is towards creation of cyclone-resilient power infrastructure, while Rs 1,510 crore was for upgradation of distribution infrastructure, Rs 428 crore for smart metering and Rs 97 crore for project management agency (PMA).
Singh Deo further requested the Power minister to consider the state’s demand for allocation of 800 MW Power from NLC Talabira Phase-II thermal power project in addition to the 400 MW already allocated in Phase-I to Odisha. This will bring total share to 1,200 MW from 3,200 MW total project capacity and ensure energy security of the state.