Bhubaneswar: Addressing ASSOCHAM Odisha Energy Meet, Hon’ble Minister said Odisha government is futuristics and is very focussed on welfare and economic development of the state. Odisha over the years has emerged as key investment destination. He said, the government is open to suggestions from industry and assured full cooperation while speaking on the learnings from Odisha Energy Sector for Other States. He said the state is committed to provide 24/7 energy to every one in the state while being responsible towards environment. He stated that is State believes in firming up business friendly policies and stands by the same and is among the first for having privatised the power distribution.
While responding to the queries of industry members at ASSOCHAM platform, Hon’ble Minister said Odisha is self-sufficient in terms of its power requirement. He said the sector has huge growth potential as the state offers opportunities of huge industrial and commercial development. He said there would be several openings in renewable energy sector especially for solar segment as Odisha offers the infrastructure support and has sufficient land bank. The state has its plan for thermal and hydro power projects as government is committed towards green energy.
Referring to MSME’s role in the sector he said , the government is forming new policies for the benefit of the MSME’s sector as there are maby MSME units that are involved in the transformers, transformers repairs, cable and there are those that are into maintenance, meter reading and other activities.
Mr Vishal Agarwal Chairman ASSOCHAM Odisha State Council in his welcome remark said energy demand will grow as economic activities would continue to grow in the state. He said while state has taken lead in many ways there are gaps and scope for further improvement exists. The sector needs an integrated approach; technology and innovations can bring in efficiency while areas such as digital media, smart metering, smart grid, distributed generation, electric vehicles hold potential in future.
Mr Somesh Dasgupta Chairman Energy Council ASSOCHAM and whole time Director India Power invited thoughts from Hon’ble minister on key learnings for other states from Odisha in terms of privatisation and the future plans of the state in terms of energy transition and grid development
Mr. Partha Chatterjee, Vice Chairman, ASSOCHAM Energy Sub-Council – Eastern Region , CEO Bhaskar Solar said the private sector is looking for opportunity to work in re-calibrating, implementation of the Goals set in the Renewable sector in view of the impact of Pandemic. Innovative steps can be explored in this regard, like removing Solar rooftop capacity limitation linked to sanctioned load for a limited time period which can help augment capacities of existing installations as well as make it attractive for new installations.
Mr. Sabyasachi Sarkar, Vice Chairman, ASSOCHAM Energy Sub-Council – Eastern Region, drew attention towards the MSME sector engaging with Power sector in the state.
Mr M Shenbagam of CEO TP Central Odisha Power Distribution (Tata Power), spoke about the capex investment and the extensive support of all stakeholders in terms of distribution privatisation and he also spoke about the infrastructure built by the state over the years. He appreciated the government initiatives towards adapting innovative technologies to ensure safety of infrastructure due to cyclones.
Dr Raj Shekhar Malur, Vice President and Head Power Business Tata Consulting Engineering Ltd, referring to the loss to the physical infrastructure specially the T&D Infrastructure due to frequent cyclones proposed solutions, for coastal areas, such as underground transmission (gas insulated tunnels), he drew attention towards the suspension towers and emphasised on digital asset management creation as he appreciated government efforts on working towards disaster resilience solutions.
Key inputs were presented by Former Coal Secretary Mr Alok Perti , Mr Vikas Das, Partner KPMG and Mr Bishwadeep Parida PwC. The meet ended with a vote of thanks by Chiarman Odisha Chapter of ASSOCHAM as he thanked Hon’ble Minister for his responses and the time spent with members.
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