Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Tuesday sought quick steps by the Centre to ensure early sanction of Rs 3,069 crore under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) to strengthen the power sector in the state.
The demand was raised when Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo met Union Power Minister Manohar Lal in New Delhi, an official press release said.
The Centre had launched the RDSS with an aim to reduce the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses to pan-India levels.
Under the scheme, financial assistance to power distribution companies is provided for upgradation of the distribution infrastructure and for prepaid smart consumer metering and system metering based on meeting pre-qualifying criteria and achieving basic minimum benchmark in reforms.
As Odisha frequently faces natural disasters like cyclones and floods, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) has proposed the creation of disaster-resilient power infrastructure with selective underground cabling, especially 30 km from the coastline, the statement said.
Therefore, Odisha urgently needs central financial assistance for disaster-resilient power infrastructure, Singh Deo said.
Considering the rising demand for power, he urged Lal for the allocation of 800 megawatt (MW) power from NLC Talabira Phase-II project in addition to the 400 MW already allocated in Phase-I to Odisha. It would bring the total share to 1,200 MW from 3,200 MW total project capacity, the statement said.
