Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed power utilities to bring down the transmission & distribution (T&D) losses to six per cent by 2022, on par with International standards.

The T&D loss currently is 9.98 per cent (till the end of September 2016). The losses should be down to 9 per cent by the end of this financial year, the CM said, and he directed the power utilities to achieve the distinction of being the first "commercial loss-free state" in the country.

The Chief Minister also queried the power utilities about the impact of global parameters such as System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) and System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI). These monitor interruptions in power supply, frequency of interruptions and time duration of these interruptions.

Mr Naidu was speaking at a crucial meeting of bureaucrats of the government and power utilities. He said he wants power distributing companies to quickly release all new service connections, in particular agriculture connections and industrial/commercial connections, and wants the utilities to render hassle-free services to consumers.

The Chief Minister appreciated the efforts of the power sector in bringing down losses from 10.32 per cent to 9.98 per cent in the current financial year.
Principal Secretary Ajay Jain informed CM about the growth rates of the AP power sector in critical parameters for the period April-October 2015 and the current financial year.

The critical meeting was attended by principal secretaries G. Sai Prasad and Ajay Jain; CMD/AP Transco & MD/AP Genco, K. Vijayanand, Advisor (Energy) K. Rangana and other officials were present.