The Hindu Business Line : Rs 2,136-cr plan to revamp AP power sector

THE power utilities of Andhra Pradesh, including the AP Transmission Corporation (AP Transco) and the Distribution Companies (DISCOMs), have drawn up a massive time-bound programme to strengthen the State's power system with an outlay of around Rs 2,136 crore.

This is in the wake of the State Government's decision to provide free power to needy farmers for whom agriculture is the sole income earner. The new programme will enable the State-based power utilities to meet the requirements of more than 1.6-crore electricity customers in the State, the AP Transco said in a press release here on Sunday.

According to AP Transco, special attention would be paid to the agriculture sector to ensure better quality of power with rated voltage and frequency to avoid any failure or burnout of electricity motors, thus paving way for getting maximum agricultural production.

The Chairman and Managing Director of AP Transco, Ms Rachel Chatterjee, had disclosed these details in a special programme organised on the occasion of selection of Andhra Pradesh by Southern States to lead the Southern Regional Electricity Board (SREB).

Ms Chatterjee stated that by leading the SREB that constitutes five States, AP would be able to convince its partners to get more power from the Central pool.

She added, "Though there has been substantial reduction in transmission and distribution losses in the recent years, there was still a greater scope for further reduction and this should be achieved by concerted efforts of all the engineers and staff to prove that AP continues to be the model for the power sector of the country."

AP Transco has taken several steps to achieve minimum possible loss levels to save energy by stringing second circuits on the existing DC/SC towers having only one circuit to bring down the loss to one-fourth on the respective lines. According to Ms Chatterjee, 48 such second circuits are being laid at an expenditure of Rs 120 crore in two phases.

"The Government is fully supporting the AP power utilities financially by providing timely subsidy to the sector and has taken all possible measures to protect the Grid," she said.

According to AP Transco, the State Government recently reviewed the free power policy to provide free power to all needy farmers to effectively arrest the wastage and pilferage of power and protect the Power Grid from possible burnouts and blackouts, while taking into account the power system ability and power availability.

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