The Hindu Business Line : AP power bill shoots up to Rs 11 crore a day

The Andhra Pradesh Government is in a piquant situation over the power demand-supply mismatch and is now forced to purchase power from Central pool and other States with a daily energy bill of Rs 11 crore.

The demand has shot up to about 175-180 million units a day from about 150 mu, mainly due to enhanced energy demand for farm sector operations, forcing the Government to resort to load cuts in urban areas and also for high tension industrial consumers.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday after a review meeting with the district collectors and officials of the power sector, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, said that the Government would ensure that farmers get at least seven hours' supply till they complete the kharif season operations.

DEMAND-SUPPLY MISMATCH

Admitting that the State was faced with a severe power demand-supply mismatch, he said this had peaked over the last four days. Farmers are demanding additional power supply. The State has been witness to a very erratic monsoon and has had a prolonged dry spell after good early rains.

As farmers had already begun cultivation, they are forced to draw from borewells, which recharged in the last two seasons.

The power supply situation has become a tricky management issue. While nearly 1500 MW of power is out due to either outages or annual maintenance, the situation is worsened by the inability of about 400 MW of gas-based plants to generate power due to inadequate supplies from GAIL, Dr Reddy said.

Even though the State has stepped up hydel generation from its two major reservoirs of Srisailam and Nagarajunasagar, the demand has far outpaced the current day supply situation, particularly due to farming operations.

Housing programme

The State Government is confident that it would complete the construction of about 24 lakh rural houses for the poor, which includes 18 lakh planned during the year and 6 lakh backlog from previous year.

Admitting that he was unhappy with the progress in some districts, Dr Reddy asked the district administration to speed up. To meet the matching fund requirement, the State has roped in self-help groups, who would provide funding from anywhere between Rs 3,000 to 6,000 per house.

FARMERS' DEATHS

Answering queries, Dr Reddy denied that the State witnessed over 3,200 deaths of farmers after he assumed office. He sought to clarify that the toll was about 1500 and they are being provided the necessary compensation package as per the norms, with the funds from the Central Government.

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