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Ram Naresh Singh, Chairman, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) on Thursday said that the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022, if passed, would lead to “healthy and ethical competition” in the industry.
Under the proposed Bill, the central government envisages to bring in the principle of open access by allowing consumers the right to choose their electricity provider, regardless of who controls the physical infrastructure. According to Singh, this would lead to the development of a consumer driven market.
“I hope the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 is passed in the Parliament. It will lead to a consumer driven market and monopoly of suppliers will not be there. There has to be a healthy and ethical competition,” Singh said while speaking at a special session organized by the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Expanding infrastructure
DVC plans to enhance its presence in the T&D (transmission and distribution) infrastructure. The utility, which has so far been focusing on industrial users, is looking to attract residential consumers within its command area moving forward. Due to upcoming demand and expected consumer growth, DVC is developing distribution network at level of 11 kV as well. It has set up a dedicated distribution wing for developing 11 kV infrastructure.
It has prepared DPR for retail distribution at 11 kV to finalize road map for creation of 975 MVA capacity at 11 kV to supply around 1500 consumers by 2025. DVC plans to invest ₹1007 crore by 2025 to develop 11 kV infrastructure at 39 locations, the company had said at a press conference held recently.
To start with, the 11 kV infrastructure would be set up at Kumardhubi, BIADA and Koderma and supply commenced.
Doubling power plans
Apart from this, DVC has drawn a roadmap for doubling power generation capacity close to 14,000 MW by ramping up both thermal power and renewable energy at an estimated investment of ₹50,000 crore over the next seven-to-eight years.
It currently has a total generation capacity of 6901 MW which includes 6750 MW of thermal power across seven generating stations, 147.2 MW hydel power and 3.82 MW of rooftop solar project.
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