Union Minister for Power and Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal reviewed power sector matters for the State of Haryana at Chandigarh. The meeting was attended by Anil Vij, Minister for Power of Haryana, and senior officials from the state government, the Ministry of Power, Government of India, and central public sector enterprises in the power sector. The review focused on operational and financial performance and the implementation status of centrally sponsored schemes.

Manohar Lal highlighted key areas where the state power department and state power sector public sector undertakings could work together under a detailed action plan. Discussions covered the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme and operational and financial parameters of the distribution companies (DISCOMs), with emphasis on treating electricity as an economic good and operating utilities on sound commercial principles. He underlined the need to reduce the cost of power purchase, rationalise expenses, augment revenue and further improve aggregate technical and commercial losses.

He reviewed the progress of smart metering and advised expeditious award of works, with the state committing to begin smart metering works on 31 August. He recommended a phased rollout of prepaid smart metering, starting with government consumers and employees, followed by high-end consumers with a load of more than 10 kilowatt (kW), and suggested appropriate incentive mechanisms for voluntary conversion. Timely settlement of government department dues and subsidies through an automated payment mechanism was urged to strengthen the cash flows and financial stability of the utilities.

He advised the state to prioritise loss reduction works with time-bound completion targets and reviewed resource adequacy and intra-state transmission planning to ensure capacity addition keeps pace with demand growth. Progress under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana was examined, and the state was directed to prepare a focused action plan to expand consumer enrolment to help reduce power costs for beneficiaries. The minister assured continued support and cooperation from the Government of India, while the state minister affirmed that necessary measures would be taken to implement sanctioned works and improve overall performance.