OREANDA-NEWS. Government has approved the National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) -an institutional mechanism for planning, monitoring and implementation of policies and programs related to Smart Grid activities. This was stated by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of state for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (IC) in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. The total outlay for NSGM activities for 12th Plan is Rs 980 crore with a budgetary support of Rs 338 crore.

NSGM has three tier structure:

• At the apex level, NSGM has a Governing Council headed by the Minister of Power. Members of the Governing Council are Secretary level officers of concerned Ministries and departments. Role of Governing Council is to approve all policies and programme for smart grid implementation.

• At the second level, the NSGM has an Empowered Committee headed by Secretary (Power). Members of the Empowered Committee are Joint Secretary level officers of concerned Ministries and departments. Role of Empowered Committee is to provide policy input to Governing Council and approve, monitor, review specific smart grid projects, guidelines / procedures etc.

• In a supportive role, NSGM has a Technical Committee headed by Chairperson (CEA). Members of the Technical Committee are Director level officers of concerned Ministries & departments, representatives from industries and academia. Role of Technical Committee is to support the Empowered Committee on technical aspect, standards development, technology selection guidelines etc.

• For day-to-day operations, NSGM has a NSGM Project Management Unit (NPMU) headed by the Director NPMU. Director NPMU is a Member of the Governing Council and Empowered Committee, and Member Secretary of Technical Committee. NPMU is the implementing agency for operationalizing the Smart Grid activities in the country under the guidance of Governing Council and Empowered Committee.

• Grant up-to 30% of the project cost is available from NSGM budget. For selected components such as training & capacity building, consumer engagement etc, 100% grant is available.

Corresponding to the NSGM, State Level Mission chaired by the Power Secretary of the State has also been proposed. Support for training & capacity building to State Level Project Monitoring Units (SLPMUs) for smart grid activities is provided by NSGM.

The Minister further stated that The major activities envisaged under NSGM are development of smart grid, development of micro grids, consumer engagements and training & capacity building etc. NSGM entails implementation of a smart electrical grid based on state-of-the art technology in the fields of automation, communication and IT systems that can monitor and control power flows from points of generation to points of consumption, the Minister added.