Uttar Pardesh minister: There are no plans to raise the cost of new power connections.
Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) management has the right to submit revised rates for consumer materials to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission for new connections, according to Minister of Energy and Urban Development for Uttar Pradesh AK Sharma. However, the state government has no intention of raising the rates as proposed by UPSCL.
Lucknow AK Sharma, the minister of energy and urban development for Uttar Pradesh, stated on Sunday that the power providers’ latest bids were part of an annual process to keep the state financially stable. The state administration did not, however, intend to raise the cost of new connections.
“The state government has no intention to increase the rates as proposed by the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) management, but they do have the right to submit revised rates for consumer materials to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission for new connections,” Sharma stated.
He mentioned that the goal was to guarantee a round-the-clock power supply in the summer and to encourage the manufacturing of solar rooftop panels, which had reached 350 MW in the state. Approximately 10,000 MW of solar plants has been built in Bundelkhand.
Sharma emphasized that Uttar Pradesh was experiencing an unparalleled rise in power demand as a result of the intense heat and rising home electricity consumption. The state’s electrical supply had not stopped in spite of these difficulties.
With the exception of interruptions brought on by natural disasters like storms or localized faults, the state was offering a 24-hour power supply to all citizens without distinction. However, some people were making spiteful and highly reproachable fake assertions about power outages.
Sharma stressed that the state produced a record-breaking 655.66 million units of power in a single day, exceeding the combined demand of all other states—including Maharashtra—by 4,000 to 5,000 MW. This fulfilled the state’s peak demand of 30,618 MW of electricity.
In addition to purchasing from commercial agencies and exchanges, arrangements were made in advance to supply this demand by contracting both thermal and hydroelectric electricity from surplus states.
The state’s electrical infrastructure has been strengthened during the last two years with investments of ₹17,000 crore under the RDSS program, ₹5,000 crore under the business plan, and ₹1,000 crore for urban electricity infrastructure. This included erecting 1.9 million new poles, upgrading 600,000 transformers with new installations, capacity increases, and repairs, and replacing aging and drooping wires with 100,000 km of AB cables. In order to maintain normal transformer temperatures and guarantee a consistent supply of electricity in spite of the record demand, cooling systems were first implemented.
There were initiatives underway to boost the state’s power generation capacity by 6–10% and provide electricity around the clock. According to him, the current administration has connected over 1.5 crore people and electrified over 125,000 hamlets.
There were strict policies in place to prevent electricity theft, and offenders faced harsh punishments. Since April 1, 2023, the government has waived power expenses for farmers’ private tubewells. Over the previous four years, the government has not raised electricity rates in an effort to maintain constant or lower rates.
Sharma concluded by advising customers to use electricity wisely in order to support ongoing supply and quickly resolve any interruptions.
