Chief Minister Smt. Vasundhara Raje has said that the state government is taking concrete steps for reforms in water and road development sectors along with power sector for attracting investment for various industries. Addressing a dialogue meet ‘Power Conclave‘ with the private companies of power sector at the Chief Minister Office on Saturday she said that the state government was committed for development of power sector in view of the fact that no state could progress without energy.

Smt. Raje said that Rajasthan was self-sufficient in terms of availability of power. Electricity supply was regular in the state while the difference between demand and supply was merely 0.1 percent, she said. She added that favourable policies and environment were being developed in the state which would expand possibilities for investors in this sector.

The CM called upon the prominent corporate houses of the country participating in the conclave to share their experiences and ideas for power sector reforms so that a roadmap for development of this sector could be prepared. She said that private firms were already engaged in power production and transmission sectors and now the state government wanted this participation to go the step further in power distribution as well.

Prior to this, Chief Secretary Shri CS Rajan welcomed the chairpersons, managing directors and other representatives of the private corporates and shared the progress report of power sector. In the meeting, possibilities and alternatives for participation of private companies in the power distribution sector were discussed.

Principal Secretary Energy Shri Sanjay Malhotra gave a presentation on present scenario of the power network. He said that the state was progressing towards becoming a power surplus state and the government was targeting to achieve the power production capacity of 17,476 megawatts by end of 2015-16. He said that power sector deficit had swollen to Rs. 77,453 crore. Transmission network remained excellent here, but the distribution losses remaining below the national average was a cause of worry.

Shri Malhotra said that public-private-partnership (PPP) model was doing well in production and transmission sectors. Now possibilities of the partnership in distribution sector were being explored.

Minister of State for Energy Shri Pushpendra Singh, Principal Secretary Finance Shri PS Mehra, Advisor to the State Government on Investment & PPP Shri Gajendra Haldia, Energy Advisor Shri RG Gupta, Chairman of Energy Task Force Shri RV Sahi, Managing Directors of Ajmer and Jaipur Discoms Shri Hemant Gera and Shri Anurag Bhardwaj, MD of Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Shri BK Doshi, Director Technical of Jodhpur Discom Shri Sunil Mehta attended the conclave. Chairman of Essel Power Shri Subhash Chandra, Chairman of Torrent Power Shri Sudhir Mehta, MD of Adani Power Shri Rajesh Adani, Shri Raghavraj Kanodiya of India Power, Director of Reliance Infra Shri Lalit Jalan, MD of CESC Ltd. Shri Aniruddh Basu, CEO and Executive Director of Tata Power Shri Praveer Sinha and other senior officials were also present.

Representatives of Essel Power, Torrent Power, Adani Power, JSW, Tata Power, India Power, Reliance Infra and CESC Ltd. gave presentations on the ongoing projects of these companies in the power sector.

Jaipur, 21 March 2015