Considering the current situation, power sector requires special attention for sustaining the secondary sector. Explain (200 Words)
Refer - Business Standard
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 4 years
KEY POINTS
· Industrial demand, together with the offtake from Indian Railways — passenger services of which have also been suspended — constitutes 40 per cent of national power demand.
· The other issue is that the industrial segment of the market is the paying section, which helps cross-subsidise domestic and household power consumption.
· The number of consumers not able to pay their power dues will increase in this period, further hampering the discoms’ liquidity situation.
· If discoms are not able to buy power from generation companies, there is a real possibility of widespread load shedding which would not only hamper the output of those working from home but might have serious public-health effects .
· Given that India’s fragile banking sector is also overexposed to the power sector, a breakdown there will have severe effects on the broader economy and cripple India’s recovery from the sudden stop imposed by the national lockdown.
· the government must come to a conclusion as to how to deal with this crisis in the power sector, guarantee the revenue flow for renewables and,
· Buy out the power-purchase agreements attached to older and less efficient and environmentally-friendly generators. This will free discoms to make newer and more sensible power-purchase agreements, which will have to be backed by the state government’s own guarantees.
