CRISIS MANAGEMENT: Public Works and Energy Minister H.D. Revanna (centre) having a word with Additional Chief Secretary Dilip Rau at the launch of a BESCOM programme to promote use of energy-efficient irrigation pumpsets in Bangalore on Wednesday. & #151; Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: Karnataka has urged the Centre to increase the allocation of power for the State from the central generating stations to help tide over the power shortage gripping the State, Energy Minister H.D. Revanna said here on Wednesday.

Mr. Revanna was speaking to presspersons after launching the Bescom Efficient Irrigation Pupmpsets Programme (BEIPP).

The Minister said Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had written to Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to increase the power supply quota from the Centre by granting the State's share from the "unallocated generation" of the central generating stations.

AP's request granted

Mr. Revanna said Andhra Pradesh had been granted about 500 MW of power from such unallocated share. Karnataka wanted the Centre to make a similar allocation to it. At present, Karnataka was getting a share of about 1,450 MW from the Central Generating Stations.

Despite the serious power shortage, the Government would ensure proper power supply during examinations to prevent any inconvenience to students.

Earlier, speaking at the launch of BEIPP, the Minister said the power supply situation in Karnataka was better than its neighbours though the State was facing serious shortage of power. He said Maharashtra was struggling to maintain even five hours of supply a day.

Mr. Revanna blamed the present scenario on the successive governments, which failed to take steps to make additions to the State power grid besides improving the power network in the last few years.

Special scheme

The BEIPP aims at providing access to farmers to highly energy efficient irrigation pumpsets. For this purpose, three companies have been identified for selling their pumpsets under the scheme after testing their products at the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI). The companies are Kirloskar Brothers Ltd, KSB Pumps Ltd and Crompton Greaves Ltd. They have set up 34 outlets in the six districts coming under the jurisdiction of Bescom for selling their energy efficient pumpsets. Bescom has tied up with banks to provide loans at low interest rates for farmers to buy these products. It is a win-win situation for the Bescom as well as farmers. Because, irrigation pumpsets use about 30 per cent less power than the normal pumpsets and reduces the power subsidy burden on the Government. For farmers, these pumpsets are a boon as their maintenance cost is said to be about 10 per cent of that of the local pumpsets. According to an estimate, each farmer spends Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 5,000 a year on the repair of the local varieties of pumpsets.

The scheme is being supported by International Copper Promotion Council (ICPCI) and International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC).

IIEC representative Nitin Pandit told The Hindu that the scheme would be taken up in other parts of the country if it was successful in the Bescom area.

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