VIZIANAGARAM: Minister for Agriculture and Civil Supplies N. Raghuveera Reddy on Thursday said the gap between demand and supply of power was 2,000 mw. In spite of the shortage, the government was committed to supply seven hours to agriculture pumpsets, he said at a press conference here.

`Vijayotsav Sabha'

Mr. Reddy, who was on way to Therlam to participate in `vijayotsav sabha' of the Congress, blamed the Telugu Desam Party for the present power crisis and said the government was making every effort to purchase power from other states.

But the states were unable to supply more than 360 mw, the Minister added.

There were about 25 lakh pumpsets in the State and the financial burden on the exchequer was Rs. 2,800 crores, Mr. Reddy said.

Additional allocation

Yet, the government allocated an additional Rs. 680 crores for purchasing power, he said and asked domestic consumers and industrialists to conserve power and help the Government tide over the present crisis. He said the crop area this year had increased to 27 lakh hectares from 22 lakh ha last year.

Efforts were being made to increase the generation and meet the demand by 2008, Mr. Reddy said.

Ration cards

With regard to issue of ration cards in the State, the Minister said that 2.16 crore pink and white cards were issued against 1.95 crores in the past.

LPG supply

Referring to LPG supply, the Minister said 126 dealers out of 724 in the State were found to have additional connections and these would be streamlined by appointing new dealers.

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