The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Gas supply: YSR's plea to Manmohan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Gas supply: YSR's plea to Manmohan

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to "find an early solution" to the gas shortage faced by the State, by ensuring ONGC/GAIL honour their supply commitments.

He told the Chief Miniters' conference on the power sector in Delhi that the ONGC/GAIL supply to the State was just sufficient to support only 50 per cent of the installed capacity for which it was intended. As a result, about 2,080 mw capacity was left idle, including 1,499 mw of the four completed gas-based projects.

Concern over pricing

Dr. Reddy referred to the pricing of gas for power generation as yet "another area of great concern", as it constituted 75 per cent of the end-tariff of consumers. The pricing could not be left to the so-called market mechanism, he said, calling for a market regulator to cover the upstream natural gas price.

He demanded a certain percentage of share to the State in petroleum production, in line with the new exploration licensing policy, in which the share was termed "profit petroleum."

Highlighting the power shortage in the State, he sought additional quota out of the unallocated share from the Central generation stations. For the present, nearly 598 mw was due to the State under this head.

Dr. Reddy listed the new projects taken up by the Government to end the deficit and achieve self-sufficiency in generation capacity by 2012. The State's overall capacity would touch 13,367 mw shortly. The Chief Minister mentioned rationalisation of power tariff by a progressive reduction in cross-subsidies and transmission and distribution losses.

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