Union Minister Shri Manohar Lal chairs Regional Power Conference with Eastern States/ UTs
Union Minister Shri Manohar Lal chairs Regional Power Conference with Eastern States/ UTs
The Regional Conference for the Eastern Region States/ UTs was held on 24th June at Patna under the Chairmanship of Shri Manohar Lal, Union Minister of Power and Housing & Urban Affairs.
The meeting was attended by Shripad Yesso Naik, Hon’ble Minister of State for Power and Renewable Energy, Shri Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister, Odisha, Shri Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Hon’ble Energy Minister, Bihar, Shri Sudivya Kumar, Hon’ble Urban Development and Housing Minister, Jharkhand. The meeting was also attended by the Union Power Secretary, Secretaries (Power/ Energy) of participating States/ UTs, CMD/MDs of Central and State Power Sector Entities, and senior officers from the Ministry of Power.
Union Minister Shri Manohar Lal , in his address, mentioned that India’s power system has evolved into a unified national grid, fulfilling the vision of ‘One Nation-One Grid’ and underlined the importance of a future-ready, modern, and financially viable power sector to fuel the country’s growth. He noted that India successfully met a peak power demand of 250 GW in May 2024 and 242 GW thus far in 2025. The peak demand is projected to rise further, reaching approximately 270 GW later this year. This reflects India’s transformation from a power-deficit to a power-sufficient nation. He outlined the importance of continuous cooperation and coordination between Central and the State Governments in achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Hon’ble Minister laid emphasis on ensuring Resource Adequacy and necessary power generation capacity tie-ups. While formulating their Resource Adequacy Plans, States should also ensure a balanced and diversified power generation mix. This should include the addition of nuclear generation capacity, with an aim to establish at least one nuclear power project in each State. India’s peak electricity demand is projected to reach 446 GW by 2034–35 and meeting this sustainably requires proactive planning and continued coordination between the Centre, States, and other stakeholders.
Hon’ble Minister emphasized that the States should work towards resolving the issues faced in development of Intra-State transmission projects, including RoW issues. States should explore diverse options for financing, including listing of transmission utilities and from multilateral institutions. Hon’ble Minister informed that in the Union Budget 2025-26, allocation of ₹1.5 lakh crore in 50-year interest-free loans to support states’ capital expenditures has been done, which can aid in strengthening the transmission infrastructure.
Union Minister remarked that States should promote renewable energy coupled with energy storage systems in order to ensure reliability of supply of power. He mentioned India is moving towards having increased share of renewable energy and the same has increased from 32% in 2014 to 49% in April 2025. He also highlighted the national ambition to achieve 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047. He urged the States for reinforced implementation of Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) mandates and urged States to form dedicated teams for these critical planning.
Union Minister underscored the importance of cybersecurity in the power sector and spoke about Islanding Schemes as the effective measures to prevent power outages owing to cyber incidents and enable resilience of grid.
Hon’ble Minister mentioned that the distribution sector is the most critical link in the power sector value chain, noting that the power sector requires an estimated ₹ 42 lakh crore by 2032.
However, it faces challenges due to poor tariff structures, sub-optimal billing and collection, and delayed payments of Government department dues and subsidies. He emphasized on the importance of reducing the AT&C losses and the gap between Average Cost of Supply (ACS) and Average Revenue Realized (ARR). He requested the States to engage with the Electricity Regulatory Commissions for ensuring cost-reflective tariffs and timely issuance of tariff and true-up orders. He noted that losses of utilities today add to the cost of power for consumers and also deteriorate delivery of services to consumers.
The Union Minister of Power emphasized that distribution utilities should further strive to improve efficiency through expediting infrastructure and smart metering works under RDSS. Smart meters have huge potential in transforming the way consumers interact with Utilities using the data analytics based on AI/ML tools.
States were urged to expedite the process of installation of smart meters. He emphasised that the pre-paid smart meters is a way to ensure timely release of Government department dues. He asked States to saturate installation of prepaid smart meters in all Government establishments including Government colonies by August 2025 and to complete installation of smart meters for Commercial and Industrial consumers and high load consumers by November 2025.
Union Minister assured States for continuous support of the Central Government to further strengthen the power sector and mentioned that collectively we should strive for “Power for All, at All Times.
Union Minister Shri Manohar Lal also requested to consider one nuclear plant in the state. Union Minister Shri Manohar Lal also discussed the forest clearance related issues in transmission projects.
Hon’ble Minister of State for Power and Renewable Energy, in his address, discussed about the execution of the PM KUSUM scheme and requested the states to complete the projects by December, 2025. He also emphasized on the need for accelerated implementation of the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana.
Secretary (Power), Government of India (GoI) extended a warm welcome to the distinguished participants of the Conference and urged for collective deliberation on specific challenges being faced in the power sector and to explore potential solutions.
He noted that it is crucial to ensure necessary power generation capacities are tied-up as per the resource adequacy plans for up to FY2035 in order to meet future power demand. It is also imperative to make necessary arrangements for development of Inter- and Intra-State transmission capacities through various available financing models including Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB), Regulated Tariff Mechanism (RTM), leveraging the support for infrastructure provided under Budget 2025-2026 or through monetization of existing assets. Further, States were advised to take all necessary measures to safeguard power sector infrastructure, particularly transmission grids and distribution networks against cybersecurity threats. This includes the implementation of appropriate cybersecurity protocols and adoption of Power Islanding Schemes. Additionally, States and UTs should actively work towards ensuring the financial sustainability of distribution utilities.