Manoj Kumar Jain is a technocrat with over 42 years of diverse experience in electricity generation, transmission and distribution in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In April 2019, he moved into the core regulatory sector, taking over as member (technical), Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC). Prior to joining the commission, he served as director (projects), Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL). He also served as managing director, UPCL from November 30, 2016 to April 7, 2017.
At UERC, his role is to envision sustainable solutions that are conducive to the growth of the generation, transmission and distribution segments and ensure availability, accessibility, affordability and quality of power supply.
On the state of the power sector in Uttarakhand, Jain notes that the generation segment is dominated by hydro and is expected to see capacity addition in the coming years. This will not only reduce the dependence on interstate generating stations but also help in reducing the dependence on fossil fuel-based power plants. In transmission, he believes that the need of the hour is to create robust EHV links within the intra-state transmission network to facilitate power evacuation from intra-state generators to load centre locations. “Uttarakhand has a tough geographical terrain and, therefore, maintaining availability, accessibility and reliability of supply is a challenge. However, by and large, these parameters have remained better than the national average,” he adds. The state is making efforts to improve energy accounting, control AT&C losses, and increase metering, billing and collection.
Jain’s most memorable assignment goes back to the time when he was SDO in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand. Despite the inhospitable conditions in the area, he and his team successfully constructed and commissioned 33 kV lines to provide quality power to consumers in remote areas. Another assignment he cherishes is restoring supply during the June 2013 disaster in Kedarnath.
Jain follows an inclusive, bottom-up approach in terms of management. His principle is “either convince me or get convinced by me”. An electronics engineer from the Madan Mohan Malviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, he also pursued a master’s in engineering in solid-state electronics from IIT-Roorkee before joining the Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Board.