Package in the offing to help supply 24×7 power to all, says FM

NEW DELHI: With the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government stepping up efforts to supply round-the-clock power to all, a power sector package, comprising a new tariff policy and structural reforms, is in the offing, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her maiden budget speech on Friday.

The announcement comes at a time when the power sector is reeling under bad loans worth about ₹1 trillion, with around 66 gigawatts (GW) facing various degrees of financial stress. “We will work with state governments to remove barriers like cross subsidy surcharges, undesirable duties on open access sales or captive generation for industrial and other bulk power consumers. Besides these structural reforms, considerable reforms are needed in tariff policy. A package of power sector tariff and structural reforms will soon be announced,” Sitharaman said.