The Hindu : Karnataka News : Power for pumpsets: more time ruled out

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 06, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Power for pumpsets: more time ruled out

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: The Government has ruled out any further extension of the deadline of May 25 for regularising unauthorised power connections to irrigation pumpsets. It extended the deadline from April 30 encouraged by the response from farmers. The power connections are being regularised by collecting Rs. 10,000 per pumpset, besides the mandatory deposits and meter security deposit.

The Minister for Public Works and Energy, H.D. Revanna, told presspersons here today that on March 15 the Government ordered the regularisation of power connections to irrigation pumpsets sets and set the deadline of April 30.

Of the estimated 1,35,000 owners of pumpsets with unauthorised connections, 46,856 have got their connections regularised. The Government earned Rs. 46.85 crores from the regularisation process.

It is hopeful of regularising the remaining 90,000 connections by the end of May. However, the deadline will not be extended, he said.

Action plan

All the four electricity supply companies and Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. have prepared an action plan to provide infrastructure such as transformers, electricity poles and power lines to 65 per cent of the regularised pumpsets by December 2005.

Infrastructure will be provided to the rest by March 2006. For this the department plans to avail itself of a loan of Rs. 400 crores in addition to the budgetary support of Rs. 173. 66 crores, he said.

The Government plans to establish new power stations and substations to reduce distribution losses, at an estimated cost of Rs. 500 crores.

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