By: V. V. Balakrishna
People of Telangana can be rest assured of one thing! There will be no power cuts in the state in future, officials aver.
After managing the first summer without power cuts in the state, the Telangana government is moving towards to become a power surplus state.
The state government has planned to increase the total installed capacity of the state to 25,000 MW by 2018-19 with an estimated amount of RS 91,000 crore.
As a first step towards this, the state government will add 1,800 MW power in January/February 2016. One unit of 600 MW in Bhupalpally and two power units being constructed by Singareni in Jaipur in Adilabad (2X600MW) will also be available next year taking the total to 1,800 MW as an immediate addition.
Recently, the state government got a loan of RS 16,070 crore from Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) for Yadadri power plant in Damarcherla in Nalgonda. The Power Finance Corporation (PFC) has extended RS 4,000 crore loan for 800 MW so far. “We have financial tie-ups with various agencies for RS 91,000 crore required for additional power generation. There is no problem for funds for increasing the installed capacity,” an official in the energy department told Express.
The state government has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Chhattisgarh government to purchase 2,000 MW power. For flowing of power from Chhattisgarh, the state government is required to complete the Wardha-Hyderabad power line.
“The officials concerned informed us that the laying of Wardha-Hyderabad will be completed by June 2017. Chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao who reviewed it recently directed the officials to complete the line by December 2016,” official sources said.
With the addition of 1,800 MW in the beginning of the next Kharif season, the state government will be able to supply power for nine hours during day time in a single spell to farmers.
“The nine-hour supply scheme is aimed at uplift of farmers and inclusive growth of farming sector,” an official said.
The budget provided for nine-hour power supply is RS 648.22 crore by the TSSPDCL. New power lines were proposed for 9-hr power supply. “All the works will be completed by February, 2016, i.e., well before next Kharif season,” an official added.
Source: The New Indian Express