He said 5 million housing units have been electrified and at present, electricity is being provided to 98% of the houses in the country. Plans are underway to electrify the whole nation 100% in the near future. The Ceylon Electricity Board has earned a profit of 15 billion rupee this year, he added.
He further apprised that the government does not charge any fee for electricity connections from the people who are resettled in the Northern Province. Also the government has allocated 2 billion rupees to provide electricity to rural schools using Solar Power, he added.
Smart Meters have been introduced The Minister said that the government is planning to produce Smart meters locally to make electricity consumption more efficiently.
He also highlighted that attention has been drawn on promoting re-generative energy sources. A plan has been mooted to set up a wind power park in Mannar.
The Minister further said that action has been taken to give permanent appointments to 2500 out of 3700 man power employees on Thursday.