Govt okays continuation of restructured power development

NEW DELHI: The government today decided to continue with the restructured power development and reforms programme in the 12th Five-Year Plan period ending March 2017, as it looks to improve overall efficiency in the country's electricity system.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) for the 12th Plan (2012-17) with minor changes to complete the ongoing/in pipeline projects.

"There is no change in the approved programme size of Rs 51,577 crore.

"Being one of the important programmes of the Government of India, the approval shall bring the benefits of R-APDRP to consumers in towns with population upto 30,000 (10,000 for special category States)," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said after the CCEA meet.

The programme would help in establishing state of the art information technology enabling systems for reliable and sustained collection distribution network for business process automation, energy accounting and audit, network analysis and consumer services.

According to the release, Rs 50,000 crore would be initially provided or arranged as loan from the central government or financial institutions.

"The total grant from the Government of India is estimated as Rs 31,577 crore. Rs 5,697 crore has already been released in the XI Plan. Rs 10,830 crore has been allocated for the XII Plan. The balance fund of Rs 11,897 crore will spill over to the XIII Plan," he said.