Centre Must Enforce Power Grid Discipline: Assocham

The Centre needs to adopt measures to ensure that grid discipline is maintained and states over-drawing power from the transmission lines are penalised, industry body Assocham said.

"In the face of sweltering heat in most parts of the country pushing demand for electricity, the authorities should announce that maintaining a grid discipline will remain sacrosanct and it will not hesitate to penalise the states over-drawing power from the transmission lines," Assocham said in a statement.

It suggested that aerial patrolling of transmission lines both at the national and state levels along with better emergency restoration systems should become priorities.

Assocham said, over-drawal of power by states and the inability of distribution networks to cope with emergency situations like thunder storms, etc, are the biggest risks which can snap power lines for long hours and even days.

Noting the long power cuts in the National Capital last week amid sweltering weather, the chamber said, "It is evident not enough investment has been made in upgrading transmission systems and transformers."

"The local transmission network companies not only in Delhi but also in other states should install high-technology systems such as aerial patrolling of the high voltage lines and transmission, better emergency restoration systems, preventive maintenance and online equipment monitoring," Assocham secretary general D S Rawat.

He added, the life cycle of the towers and transmission equipment should be strictly monitored and replacements should be done without any compromises."

"A country aiming to grow by a double digit and wanting to become global manufacturing hub cannot afford to compromise on continuous and quality supply of power," Assocham said.