Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today asked the Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd. (APDCL) to take up the necessary steps to ensure that power tariffs can be decreased by Rs 1.50 in the next two years. He said this will provide relief to power consumers in the state.
The CM said this while inaugurating a 2.5 MW solar project installed at Janata Bhawan. He said that, at present, the power tariff is Rs 5.85 per unit up to 300 units. “I urge the APDCL to plan on how to decrease the power tariff by Rs 1.50 per unit by 2026. It should be ensured that the tariff is lowered by Rs 1.00 by April 1, 2025, and by another 50 paisa by April 1, 2026. For this, they have to check the leakage of power as well as power theft by industrial units and big consumers. Moreover, the pending unpaid bills should be collected,” he said. He stressed that people in the lower middle class and the poor will benefit from this measure to decrease the power tariff.
He also directed the APDCL to ensure that misuse of power is checked by installing ‘auto stopper’ systems in the state secretariat and other government offices. “We have already installed auto stopper systems in 8,000 government offices, schools, and Anganwadi centres. Initially, we are going to install these systems in all buildings in the state secretariat, except for those housing the Finance Department, Home & Political Department, and Lok Sewa Bhawan. With the use of the auto stoppage systems, the electricity will be automatically cut off at 8 p.m.,” he explained.
Further, he said that the power bills of the residences of ministers and bureaucrats would have to be paid by the occupants themselves instead of the government footing the bills. This will start at the residences of the Chief Minister himself and the Chief Secretary, from July 1 onwards.
He asked the Assam Power Generation Corporation Ltd. (APGCL) to install solar power generation systems in all government buildings, starting from the medical colleges and hospitals in the state, followed by all universities, so that they can generate their required power themselves.
Talking about the plans in the power sector, the Chief Minister said the total power requirement in the state is 2,500 MW daily, but APGCL can produce only 420 MW of power, and the rest of the requirement is met by purchasing power from other sources. He said the target is to produce 3,000 MW of solar power by 2029. Oil India Limited (OIL) and APGCL are taking up a green power project to jointly produce 645 MW of solar power. Moreover, a new project of 1,000 MW has been initiated in Karbi Anglong with the help of the central government and the Asian Development Bank.
He also added that APGCL has drawn up agreements with two companies, NCL India Renewal Limited and SJVN Green Energy Limited, to generate 2000 MW of solar power.
The CM also urged the people to install rooftop solar panels under the PM-Surya Ghar scheme. Already, solar power panels under the subsidized scheme have been installed in 138 houses. A total of two lakh people have applied under the scheme, he stated.
The solar project of 2.5 MW installed at Janata Bhawan will help the state government become a Net Zero government, with the milestone of being the first Net Zero civil secretariat achieved, he emphasized. The cost of the project is Rs 12 crore, and it will help save the government an amount of Rs 30 lakh per month on power bills. It will be operational for 25 years, he added.
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