IEEMA flags off E3 Connecting ASEAN

IEEMA flags off E3 Connecting ASEAN

ENERGISE EMPOWER EAST (E3) IS A THREE-DAY MEGA EXHIBITION ORGANIZED BY INDIAN ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURER’S ASSOCIATION (IEEMA) THAT WILL SHOWCASE HOW THE EASTERN REGIONIS ON AN ENERGISATION AND EMPOWERMENT MODE AND AT THE SAME TIME CONNECTING WITH THE ASEAN COUNTRIES.

Mr Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, Minister-in-charge of Department of Power & Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Government of West Bengal,and Mr Jishnu Deb Barma, Deputy Minister-in-Charge for Power Tripura, today inaugurated thethree-day Energize Empower East (E3)Connecting ASEAN Exhibitionat Nicco Park, Kolkata.

The mega Exhibition is being organized by Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA) - the apex industry association of manufacturers of electrical, industrial electronics and allied equipment in India. Mr Harish Agarwal, President of IEEMA), Mr Nirmal Saraf, (Chairman, Eastern Region Committee, IEEMA) & Mr Sunil Misra, Director General of IEEMA, were also present at the inauguration.

“By 2022 West Bengal will have 74 town connected by underground electric cables providing quality uninterrupted power to domestic and commercial users,” said Mr Sovandeb Chattopadhyay.

“North east has made major strides in electrification in the past few years. The focus is on clean energy as the eco-system in the region is fragile and creating infrastructure remains a challenge,” said Mr Deb Barma, Deputy Minister-in-Charge of Power, Tripura.

“The consumption of power has increased 63 times in the past six decades with one lakh kilometres of transmission lines laid. The growth in the energy sector has been humongous,” said Mr Vishal Kapur, Director (Distribution), Ministry of Power, Government of India.

The Government of India, through the Ministry of Power, has embarked on an ambitious program under Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (GSA) for 100 per cent household electrification in 88 electrified districts of eight North Eastern states.  Tentatively, 29 lakh un-electrified households are targeted for electrification in the region by end of 2018 under the Saubhagya Scheme, of which, about four lakhs are targeted for immediate electrification under the GSA. 

 The need of the hour is that the industry and Government should work together to realize the potential of Rs30,000 Crore of investments being made by the Government of India in transmission and Rs7,000 Crore in distribution.

The two-day E3 will showcase how the eastern region of India is on energization and empowerment mode. The conference focuses on a variety of subjects. Today, whenreverse bidding is gnawing away at our vitals, there is a need to enhance awareness of Price vs Value proposition which is the first theme of this Conference.

The three-day exhibition will have three more subjects namely:

·         Electrical Fire Safety

·         Enhancing our Global footprint

·         Future of Electricity

Besides the Conference, a three-day exhibition will bring various stakeholders fromutilities, contractors, consultants from transmission & distribution, building segment, railway electrification, mining and steel plants, under one roof. The footprint of the Exhibition will cover Eastern India, North East, ASEAN Countries, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The North East and ASEAN Countries have become particularly important in the context of India’s look East policy and a recent MoU with Myanmar for operationalizing Sittwe Port to bolster the northeast connectivity. No other regional block can match ASEAN in improving the living conditions of such a large section of humanity.

Meeting the country’s power demand and rural electrification from reliable sustainable energy sources remains a major challenge. The hybrid combination of conventional and non-conventional resources in off grid and grid-connected mode are potential power solution in Indian context. Tapping power from the available resources and integration with the national grid is a very challenging issue.

The Government of India has an extensive plan to generate more green power from sustainable renewable energy resources. Therefore, a modern state of art micro grid research infrastructure is highly required in India for carrying out extensive research in this area.