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The Tamil Nadu Government has sought the Prime Minister's support to expand the power transmission corridor available to the State.
The Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa, in a letter to Dr Manmohan Singh, urged him to intervene with the Central power authorities on the State's behalf for the release of 1,000 MW of transmission corridor.
In the backdrop of the acute power shortage in the State, it has finalised contracts for power purchase from outside the State. But the transmission infrastructure poses a constraint in getting the power.
For March, Tamil Nadu has contracted 1,750 MW but just 350 MW of corridor availability has been released by the Central Load Despatching Authorities.
Tamil Nadu had contracted 500 MW from Gujarat, but only 203 MW could be transmitted to the State.
The 727 MW of Night Power contracted from Dadri Power Station, Uttar Pradesh, from NTPC was also curtailed.
Corridor congestion
Major power projects to be executed by Central Public Sector Undertakings such as BHEL, NLC and NTPC are inordinately delayed.
Tamil Nadu is trying to procure power from other States to offset the shortage and has been fairly successful in finalising contracts for a sizeable quantum of power.
However, the non-availability of a Transmission Corridor has deprived Tamil Nadu of receiving the contracted power, she said in the letter.
The power deficit situation in Tamil Nadu has been aggravated by the prevailing corridor congestion.
The problem has been represented to the Central authorities several times.
The Chief Minister requested Dr Singh to intervene and ensure that the required 1,000 MW of power transmission lines is released.
Ms Jayalalithaa also recalled the Memorandum she had presented to Dr Manmohan Singh on June 14 last year, when she had requested 1,000 MW of additional power for the State for one year till the central power utilities which supply power to Tamil Nadu commence production. Of this, only 100 MW was recently allotted.
She urged the Prime Minister to support Tamil Nadu's demand for additional power at the earliest.
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