Biggest interview of UP’s power minister: Shrikant Sharma said – Electricity department in loss of 90 thousand crores, yet giving electricity for 24 hours in urban areas and 18 in villages; kejriwal also replied

The electricity department of Uttar Pradesh is running at a loss of 90 thousand crores. This was disclosed by the State Power Minister Shrikant Sharma himself. He said that earlier there was no electricity in Uttar Pradesh and now it does not go. It is our endeavor to have 24 hours power supply in urban areas and 18 hours in villages. ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ did a special interview of Power Minister Shrikant Sharma on the occasion of Independence Day. In this, he gave many information regarding the improvement and schemes of the power system in the state. Here are the important excerpts from the conversation…

Question: How much has the power system of UP changed in four and a half years?
Jawan: Before the BJP government came, the electricity system in Uttar Pradesh was very dilapidated. If I say that I was in a dying condition, then it would not be wrong. We have worked to get him back on track. Uttar Pradesh has now become a surplus power state. We fixed the roster as soon as we arrived. Electricity was given to villages for 18 hours, in district headquarters and in urban areas 24 hours. Started supplying electricity to the tehsil for 20 to 22 hours. There is continuous supply of 22 hours in Bundelkhand. This was the basis of new Uttar Pradesh, which was laid by our government.

Shrikant Sharma said that the power system in the earlier governments was very dilapidated.

Question: You claimed to have done many things in four and a half years. How much work is left to do?
Answer: Before 2017 the power grid capacity in Uttar Pradesh was 16500 MW. Today we are meeting the peak demand of 25 thousand MW. That is, the capacity of 26 thousand MW grid has been made. This was a big task to fulfill the dream of electricity for every household in Uttar Pradesh. Further, by February 2022, our grid will have a capacity of 30,000 MW.

Question: Your government claims that electricity has been provided to every village? To what extent is this true? Do you have any statistics?
Answer: My government has given new connections to the homes of 1.40 crore people. In this, there are more than 60 lakh people who were given free connections. These people were poor and the previous governments did not help them. They were forced to live in darkness since independence. Today their homes have electricity. Light burns. All these people also pay the electricity bill with their hard work. There is an option to pay the bill in installments so that there is not much problem. Now the work of providing electricity to the small villages which are settled inside the village is going on. Survey has been done. In many places some work is left unfinished, we are completing it.

Question: There are complaints from the villages that no one corrects for 3-4 days if there is a fault. People collect donations and get it done right.
Answer: This is not true. Electricity faults are rectified within a maximum of 24 hours. Before our government came, people had to get the transformer replaced by paying money. Now everything’s changed. So far 4.5 lakh complaints have been received on our toll free number 1912. Of these, 99.99% have been settled.

Question: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal says that we will give free electricity to the poor in UP like Delhi. What will you say?
Answer: UP cannot be compared with any other state. My priority is to bring light to the houses where there is darkness.

Till now 4.5 lakh complaints have been received on toll free number 1912. 99.99% of them have been settled.

Question: There was a plan to underground the power lines in the cities. To what extent did this work?
Answer: A large number of underground cabling work has been done and is still in progress. Along with the underground cabling, the work of isolating the feeder is also being done. In Uttar Pradesh, the feeder of urban areas is different and that of rural areas is different. Now tubewell feeders are also being separated. The feeder of the industry is already different.
Question: What is the scheme for farmers, middle class and poor families?
Answer: The houses which consume up to 100 units of electricity have to pay Rs 3 per unit. The government is giving the remaining subsidy of Rs.5. This is a big relief scheme for the poor, farmers and middle class family.

Question: What are you doing to promote industries?
Answer: Tripping free electricity facility is being provided to the industries. The new industries that are coming up will not be charged for electricity duty for 10 years.