Smart City: Gurgaon to host model grid for zero outage

GURGAON: A pilot smart grid project, envisaged as the backbone for the government's dream to build smart cities across India, was announced in Gurgaon on Wednesday, setting a zero power-cut target for the Millennium City within a year.

The first-of-its-kind initiative will be jointly piloted by the state and central governments, said Union power minister Piyush Goyal, who made the announcement at a programme in the city.

"The project has been envisaged with a 12-month deadline for ensuring 24-hour power supply to Gurgaon and to rid the city of its dependence on diesel generator sets for power back-up. This will be a model project that will be replicated later in all other cities in the country labelled as no power-cut zones," Goyal said.

Gurgaon is among cities classified as a no-power-cut zone but that's currently a misnomer, crippled as the city is by blackouts year long.

Goyal made the announcement in the presence of Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Union minister and Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh and state PWD minister Rao Narbir Singh, following a presentation on the project by the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), which will steer the project. "The smart grid project will serve as the backbone for the development of Gurgaon as a smart city," Khattar said.

The project, which will entail an overhaul of existing transmission network and upgrade of 39 substations, will be executed in two phases. The first phase, spanning sectors 1 to 57, Udyog Vihar and Manesar, aims to provide these areas uninterrupted power supply through an exclusive transmission network. The second phase will cover sectors 58 to 115.

"Alterations may also be made to the Gurgaon's master plan in a bid to incorporate speedy and spontaneous development of upgraded power supply network. Strengthening of transmission system will take into account 24-hour power supply demand of the city for the next 20 years," Goyal said.

The minister also announced the formation of a committee comprising Power Grid chairman RN Nayak, additional chief secretary (power) Rajan Gupta, Gurgaon deputy commissioner TL Satyaprakash and MCG commissioner Vikas Gupta that will prepare the roadmap for the implementation of the project.

The committee will study the current power situation in the city and suggest necessary action to ensure time-bound completion of the smart grid project, an official said. The working of the committee will be monitored on a quarterly basis by the CM himself.