Patna, Jan. 11: Energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav today said open access system was a new initiative in the field of energy, particularly for the industries which would get unhindered power supply. However, a lot of groundwork needs to be done before moving ahead with the initiative, he added.

Yadav was addressing a daylong workshop “Powering Bihar — A Way Forward” organised by Indian Energy Exchange, a pioneer company engaged in the field of facilitating power exchange.

He said: “This is a new initiative and could turn out to be good as well. But my concern is how the poor, particularly the people below poverty line, will benefit from this trading.”

He added: “The state government is supposed to spend Rs 25,000 crore to strengthen the power sector in the field of generation, transmission and distribution in the coming years. However, the affluent cannot be given advantage over the poor as the power would be traded through our transmission lines.”

Yadav asked the Bihar State Electricity Board chairman and the principal secretary (energy) to meet the company officials to chalk out a strategy that would be in the interest of the state.

Principal secretary (energy) Ravikant said the power exchange could be relevant for the board and industries to bridge their gap of energy requirement by purchasing power at a competitive price.

“This is a welcome sign that we are moving towards a competitive, open and transparent system. Earlier, the government and the regulator used to fix the tariff and bidding would start. Now, the tariff is being fixed on a competitive basis through the exchange,” he said.

The exchange system under which power is traded nationwide, buyers and sellers are provided a platform to quote their respective price and energy requirement.

The exchange is only the facilitator and would bring both buyers and sellers on a single platform and the tariff is determined on the basis of demand and supply of energy.

Describing the event as a welcome step, Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission acting chairman, S.M. Sahay, said: “Indian Energy Exchange is a transparent body in this field. People must come forward to trade power provided by the firm. The state electricity board is not going to lose, rather it will get money for usage of its transmission lines.”