The Centre plans to facilitate electricity connection to all the villages in the country during the next 1,000 days which includes about 25,000 hamlets in Odisha, which are yet to be covered.
Announcing this here, Union Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal told mediapersons that about 50 lakh families in Odisha, who do not have electricity in their houses, will be covered under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDGJY) launched by the Centre. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fixed a timeline to electrify all the un-electrified villages in the country within the next 1,000 days under the DDGJY.
Goyal assured the State Government that it will provide all necessary funds and assistance under DDGJY for strengthening power infrastructure, feeder separation and modernisation of transformers in rural areas. He said total upgradation of power system is required for reducing transmission and distribution loss in the State. He asked the State Government to focus more on solar power, particularly LED lighting system, to save energy bill.
Stating that dependable network is required for uninterrupted power supply, Goyal asked the State Government to complete the rural electrification work in a time-bound manner. “Our goal is to supply power to all villages, to all agricultural land. We are planning special line for electric supply to all land that need irrigation,” he said.
Goyal said that Odisha will earn over Rs 45,000 crore from coal block auction which the State Government can utilise for its all-round development. He also assured all assistance from the Centre in implementation of development projects in Odisha as per the Modi Government’s decision to give priority to Eastern India.
The Centre has also decided to provide financial assistance for setting up eight new medical colleges in the State out of which three will have health care facilities.
The Minister also announced that all freedom fighters in the State will be provided free medical care at hospitals of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL). Coal production at Talcher will be increased from 75 million tonne to 300 million tonne, he said and added that railway lines will be upgraded to facilitate better coal transportation.
Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and State BJP president K V Singhdeo were present.
Later, Goyal met Chief Minister Shri.Naveen Patnaik at the secretariat here and discussed the issue of uninterrupted power supply.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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