Hyderabad: Telangana will soon emerge as the top power producing State in the country with installed electricity generation capacity expected to touch 27,603 MW, Power Minister G Jagadish Reddy said on Tuesday. The installed capacity of Telangana was a mere 7,700 MW at the time of State formation in 2014, he pointed out.
Initiating a short discussion on power-related issues in the State Assembly here, the Minister said that within six years of State formation, Telangana had proved that it not only had enough power to provide round the clock, free and quality power to its farmers, but it also augmented its power generation capacity contrary to what naysayers had to say at the time of bifurcation of the State.
“There were power holidays during the days before bifurcation. Industrialists organised dharnas demanding regular supply of power reflecting the pathetic situation. Farmers had only 2 hours of supply that too at nights, and low voltage plagued the agriculture sector. There were crop failures leading to suicides by farmers,” he said, adding that after Telangana was born, there have been no power cuts from November 20, 2014.
“We completed projects such as 600 MW Bhupalpally, 120 MW Pulichintala, 800 MW KTPS, 1200 MW Singareni, 270 MW Bhadradri first unit and entered into an agreement with Chhattisgarh for supply of 1000 MW,” he said. He said that the State improved solar production from 71 MW at the time of bifurcation to 3,725 MW now, pole-vaulting Telangana to the top four position in the country in solar power generation.
The State which had only 7,700 MW of installed capacity reached 15,888 MW in six years of time, adding over 8110 MW, the Minister said. He added that soon after the completion of the 4000 MW Yadadri ultra thermal power plant, 810 MW of Bhadradri (3 units), 4000 MW of NTPC Ramagundam, 800 MW Singareni, 1723 Solar power and 382 from CGS the State will reach 27,603 MW installed capacity making it the top State to have such installed capacity and also in surplus power.
The Minister said per capita consumption of the State has reached 1306 units in 2014 to present day’s 2071 units while the national average during the same period increased from 957 units to 1200 units. “Telangana is the top State with an annual growth rate of consumption of 9.22 per cent among States that consume 1000 MW and above. We have achieved this by strengthening the distribution system at a cost of Rs 28,000 crore. We have also improved our transmission capacity,” Jagadish Reddy said.
He further said that Telangana also played a major role in linking the north with the south for smooth transmission of power through the grid by linking 500 km Wardha-Dichpally and 400 km Vadodara-Warangal double circuit lining. Not only that, Telangana set a record by achieving 13,168 MW peak power demand on February 20 , 2020 , the State is providing subsidy to the agriculture sector to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore and power to all lift irrigation projects in the State was borne by the government, the Minister said.
Speaking on the mishap that occurred at the Srisailam Left bank Hydro Electrical Station on August 20, 2020 in which nine people including two from a private company of Hyderabad lost their lives, the Minister expressed sorrow and said that the CID and Departmental inquiries will bring out the reasons behind the accident. He assured the house that the hydel power station will resume its functioning at the earliest.
