Union Budget 2020-21: Electricity and energy sector announcements

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanpresented the Budget for the second time in her tenure on Saturday.

She made several announcements regarding the electricity and energy sector. These include:

State governments need to replace conventional electricity meters with prepaid smart meters in 3 years.

Rs 22,000 crore to Power and Renewable Energy sector in 2020-21.

Natural gas pipeline grid to be expanded to 27,000 km from over 16,000 km now.

Further reforms for transparent price discovery for natural gas will be undertaken.

Government proposes distribution companies of India (DISCOMs) replace conventional meters with smart pre-paid meters, the option to consumers to choose electricity suppliers.