During his recent visit to West Bengal, Union Minister for Power Manohar Lal called upon varied government department of the State for timely clearing up their pending dues, further seeking they transition to prepaid meters, sources privy to the development informed.

According to them, to alleviate stress on DISCOMs, Mr. Lal also sought a “robust mechanism” be instituted for regular settlement.

Further, whilst reviewing progress on smart metering in the state, Mr. Lal called for expeditious implementation. In fact, sources privy of the development apprised The Hindu that the state government committed to saturate government establishments by June this year and convert them to prepaid by August this year.

The Union Power Minister put forth the potential plan of action in a meeting also attended by the Chief Minister of West Bengal Suvedu Adhikari, along with senior officials from the state government, Union Ministry of Power, Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and CPSEs of the power sector.

Union Power Minister Manohar Lal on Friday (March 20, 2026) stressed the importance of energy security amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions.

Addressing a ministerial meet at the Bharat Electricity Summit 2026, Lal called for coordinated efforts between the Centre and States to ensure affordable and efficient power generation, transmission, and distribution.

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“Stressing the importance of energy security amid global uncertainties, he (Lal) underlined the need to enhance per capita energy consumption and accelerate the transition towards renewable energy,” a Power Ministry statement said.

He also noted the potential of nuclear energy as a clean energy source and termed the SHANTI Act a significant step forward.

Minister of State for new and renewable energy Shirpad Naik co-chaired the meeting.

Mr. Lal also released the Ministry of Power — Consumer Service Ratings of DISCOMS (CSRD) Report, and the Distributing Utilities Ranking (DUR) Report for FY 2024-25.

The CSRD evaluates DISCOMs’ performance in consumer service by setting baseline standards and expectations, including prompt and accurate metering and billing, timely and effective grievance redressal and fair, transparent tariff-setting.

The DUR offers a comprehensive and objective assessment of the performance of power distribution utilities across the country. Building on insights from previous editions, the report goes beyond traditional performance indicators to adopt a multi-dimensional evaluation framework encompassing institutional capability, financial sustainability, operational efficiency, and service delivery outcomes.