Enormous scope for green energy in Odisha: Minister

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Industry Minister Captain Dibya Sankar Mishra stressed that there is huge scope for green and clean energy in Odisha. We are going to chalk out a roadmap for green energy for Odisha.

While delivering his address at Odisha Energy Summit organized by Industry chamber FICCI here today he said that, “Odisha has more than six lakh hectares of water surface, out of which two lakh hectares of water is in reservoirs only which gives competitive edge to this state to stay ahead of others in hydro electricity. Apart from this, we can excel in solar power projects and also can get desired result in wind power sector.”

He said that, “we have to improve our infrastructure to reduce losses in electricity supply. We have to supply power to every industry of the state so that they don’t need to put captive power plant (CPP).”

“Odisha has huge resources of bauxite, iron ore and coal which makes it a better destination for investment. Natural resources in states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have become saturated. At this point of time, Odisha can give maximum values to the investors. Odisha dreams to be a trillion dollar economy and it got sense. Energy sector can play a major role to achieve this dream. Actually, road to development is energy now,” he added.

Energy Secretary of Odisha Bishnupada Sethi said that, “We are able to reduce energy loss significantly by installing smart meters. To ensure stable power supply we acted on every aspect of energy supply. So many customer-centric approaches have also been adopted. We introduced multiple payment avenues like bank, mobile payment, post office and etc. Odisha is now focusing more on resilient power supply.”

He also informed that to check theft in electricity and to stop that practice state government is giving incentives to citizen organization like self-help group to give information about electricity theft. It worked very well and became a great success. Government also focuses on citizen-centric delivery model. We want to bring all utilities in a single platform by using futuristic technology.

FICCI Odisha State Council Chairman Subhrakanta Panda said that, “from so many years Odisha is at forefront to take reform measures in electricity sector. Odisha now become prone to natural calamities. We have to create robust infrastructure for electricity supply. Lots of work needs to be done. FICCI Odisha is always ready to organize this kind of event to bring all stakeholders to a single platform to discuss about various issues.”

Other dignitaries who were present at the event included — C N Singh, CEO, Vedanta Limited and industry representatives.