Telangana on track to get 24x7 power

HYDERABAD: Decks have been cleared for the ‘Power for All (PFA)’ scheme aimed at providing 24x7 uninterrupted power supply (except for agriculture) to consumers in the state and the proposals are likely to receive approval from the Union ministry of power soon. Under the PFA, the Telangana government would get a lion’s share of central funds for improving power supply infrastructure in the state.
If everything goes well, officials said, the state government would be in a position to provide uninterrupted power to consumers by March 2019.
Officials said the state government has been making efforts to land the scheme for the past few months and even submitted a detailed project report (DPR) to the Centre. The project was not cleared as the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the scheme’s nodal agency, pointed out some anomalies in the DPRs and sought clarifications and more information on them. The CEA reportedly called state energy department officials for a final discussion on July 30 and 31 at New Delhi.
The Telangana government has been giving top priority to improving power supply position in the state and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been reviewing the power supply position every day.
Power utilities in the state have estimated that about Rs 85,000 crore to Rs 90,000 crore is required for enhancing generation and improving transmission and distribution networks. Of the total cost, nearly Rs 42,000 crore is required for construction of new power plants at Damarcherla, Kothagudem, Manuguru and other places. Another Rs 22,000 crore is needed for improving transmission network while the two power distribution companies (both southern and northern discoms) need over Rs 20,000 crore for improving the distribution network.
“We hope the power ministry will take a favourable decision soon on our proposals,” TS Genco chairman and managing director D Prabhakar Rao said.
Telangana southern discom officials said the Union power ministry has already in principle agreed to sanction Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyothi Yojana (DDUGJY) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) programmes to Telangana. Under DDUGJY, both agriculture and non-agriculture electrical feeders in rural areas would be separated. As of now, power is being supplied on a single feeder for both the sectors. The IPDS is being taken up to improve power infrastructure in urban areas.
“The discoms have asked Rs 7,500 crore under DDUGJC and another Rs 1,000 crore IPDS. We are awaiting the Centre’s approval for this too,” SPDCL director (projects) T Srinivas told TOI.
Connecting 24x7
The Centre had taken up Power for All (PFA) pilot project in three states_Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi last year. Later this was taken up in a full-fledged manner across several states including Telangana. The objective of the scheme is to supply 24x7 quality, reliable and affordable power to all domestic, commercial and industrial consumers within a fixed timeframe. Apart from this, households which do not have electricity connections will also be covered in a phased manner in the next three years.