Telangana's burden is AP's gain - TeluguPeople.com News

Hyderabad: It appears that Telangana's burden is Andhra Pradesh's gain. The residuary State of AP is no longer burdened by huge agricultural demand for pump sets during the peak Kharif season and as a result is getting 24x7 power supply in almost all areas.

The demand for electricity in Telangana is about 170 million units (MU), but the supply stands at 139 MU. This has forced officials to undertake load relief sessions of varying durations, ranging from four hours in urban areas to eighteen hours in rural areas.

There are over 18 lakh pump sets employed by farmers in the state, which account for almost 40 per cent of the power consumption. On the other hand, in Andhra Pradesh, both the demand and supply stand around 140 MU.

The State has just around 13 lakh pump sets in the upland areas, but with sufficient ground water availability, they are not of much burden to the State. So, unburdened by the agricultural demand, AP has been able to provide uninterrupted power supply to many major towns and municipalities.

In united Andhra Pradesh State, power deficit during peak agricultural season was dealt with by distributing load relief sessions across the State. This resulted in relatively lesser duration of power cuts. But bifurcation blues have hit Telangana hard, as there is a huge gap between demand and supply.

Telangana Electricity Engineers Association president N Shivaji agreed that the huge power deficit was due to the number of pump sets being used in the State.

'In Telangana, most of the farmers depend on pump sets to meet their irrigation needs. Therefore, though geographically smaller than AP, there are at least 5 lakh additional pump sets in Telangana than the latter,' he said.

He said that though Telangana was to receive 52 per cent of combined power production of AP and Telangana according to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, the AP government had claimed that the power purchase agreements (PPA) were null and void.

The AP government has adopted such a tough stand that it has rejected outright the demand of the Telangana government for a fair share in the 800 MW Krishnapatnam Thermal Project in Nellore district.

Though the project has commenced power generation a couple of months ago, the AP government has not yet officially announced the synchronization of the project to the grid in a bid to deny share of power to the Telangana State.

According to the shareholding pattern in AP Power Development Corporation Limited (APPDCL) which had funded the project, Telangana Genco has got 27.49 per cent, while the two discoms ' Central Discom has got 29.37 per cent and Northern Discom 7.06 per cent.

This would mean the Telangana State has to get complete control over the Krishnapatnam power plant. 'However, the AP government has rejected the revised shareholding pattern stating that it was unscientific. It argued that Central Discom got a higher share in APPDCL as Kurnool and Anantapur were earlier part of it,' an official pointed out.

Though 800 MW Krishnapatnam power project commenced generation a
couple of months ago, the AP government has not yet officially announced its synchronization to the grid in a bid to deny share of power to the Telangana State.

Shivaji said this refusal of AP government to provide electricity has further worsened the power situation in Telangana. The situation looks even bleaker in the future, as Rabi season and arrival of summer are expected to plunge the State into further darkness.

An official of the power department said that the demand for power supply during peak Kharif season was expected to be around 150 MU, but was in fact more than 170 MU.

'We expected the peak Rabi season power consumption to be at 170 MU, but on this evidence, it is certain to be even more,' he said. With power generation unlikely to pick up in the short run, people of Telangana may have to brace themselves for even lengthier power cuts after the turn of the year.

However, the government officials claim that all efforts are being made to procure additional power from third parties and other states to bridge the gap between demand and supply.