Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Aug 16, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Aug 16, 2002 |
|
|
|
|
|
Industry & Economy
-
Power 24-hour power supply to all villages in AP — T&D to be beefed up with Rs 7,282-cr plan Our Bureau
HYDERABAD, Aug. 15 AN amount of Rs 7,282 crore would be spent in the next five years on strengthening the transmission and distribution (T&D) system in Andhra Pradesh. The programme would be funded by various institutions including the World Bank, Department For International Development, Japanese Bank for International Cooperation, Rural Electrification Corporation and Power Finance Corporation, according to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu. Inaugurating the Government initiative for providing round-the-clock power supply for lighting in all villages in the State on Thursday, Mr. Naidu said that in the last six years, Rs 6,099.59 crore had been invested for strengthening the T&D system and for rural electrification. Accordingly, T&D losses came down from 38 per cent in 1999 to 29.6 per cent by 2001-02, resulting in a saving of Rs 672 crore. The voltage profile had also improved significantly. It was planned to further reduce T&D losses by 4.6 per cent during the current fiscal. He said that 24-hour power supply for lighting would be made available in 26,560 villages in the State. Hitherto, there used to be no power supply for a period of six hours every day in villages. The additional power required for round-the-clock power supply was estimated at 3.5 to 5 million units per day. About Rs 558 crore assistance provided by the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) has been utilised to erect 15,000 3-phase 7 28,500 single-phase transformers. To run the initiative, a total of 1,140 MUs of power generation is required up to March 31. While an additional Rs 206 crore is required to purchase power, the expected revenues are of the order of Rs 83 crore after supply of power to rural areas at subsidised rates. The burden on APTransco would be Rs 123 crore, Mr Naidu told newspersons. The Chief Minister said that in power generation, the State was next to Maharashtra with an installed capacity of 9,262 MW. Between 1995 and 2002, the installed capacity had increased by 65 per cent. The capacity addition stood at 2,756 MW during this period, making the State the second largest power producer in the country. However, he said, due to increased agricultural operations during last year's rabi season on account of delayed monsoons and non-availability of hydel power generation, the State had to purchase Rs 900 crore worth of power to meet the needs of the farm sector. He reiterated that free power supply to the agricultural sector was not possible.
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|