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State to have accord with Chhattisgarh on power front

S. Rajendran

Karnataka to build 2000 MW thermal station in Godhna

Yeddyurappa submits requisition for supply of 500 MW
State is facing
a shortage of
1,600 MW

Power talk: Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh (left) at Jindal Nature Cure Centre in Bangalore on Saturday.

BANGALORE: The State Government is set to enter into a long-term understanding with the Government of Chhattisgarh for not merely transferring surplus power from that State, but to also establish a major power plant there, thus marking a novel inter-State understanding.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh is in Bangalore undergoing naturopathy treatment.

Lengthy discussion

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had a lengthy discussion with him on Saturday and submitted a formal requisition letter for supply of 500 MW of power.

The sources in the State Government told The Hindu that the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister had promised that around 200 MW of electricity would be straightway made over to Karnataka from the coming week.

Additional power

Meanwhile, Karnataka had also sought an additional 290 MW of electricity from the unallocated power in the Central grid to the State following a severe shortage, they said.

Following discussions between the two Chief Ministers, talks have also commenced at the official level too.

Sudhakar Rao, Chief Secretary, and K. Jairaj, Principal Secretary, Energy, are in touch with their counterparts in Raipur.

Mr. Yeddyurappa exuded confidence that the State would shortly come out of the power crisis.

Relief

“With a spell of good rainfall and with electricity from Chhattisgarh, people of the State will have some relief. Adequate funds will be made available by the State Government for purchase of power not merely from Chhattisgarh, but also from other States,” Mr. Yeddyurappa said

A high-level official team is stated to be negotiating with the officials from the States of Orissa and Jharkhand apart from several private power producers, including the Jindal group.

Visit

A team of officials has visited several northern States, including Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

The State is facing a shortage of 1,600 MW (30 per cent of the energy demand) and the production is around 4,800 MW.

With the water level in the major hydel reservoirs of the State depleting, the situation is expected to turn for worse if the dry spell continues further.

The Chief Minister has written to Union Minister for Power Sushil Kumar Shinde over diversion of 50 MW of power allocated to the State from the southern grid to Andhra Pradesh.

The Central Electricity Authority has reduced the Karnataka’s allocation by 50 MW (between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. every day).

This power from the unallocated quota of the Central stations in the southern region had been made over to the State.

Thermal station

Karnataka is set to build a 2,000-MW pit-head thermal station at Godhna in Chhattisgarh.

The Electricity Board and the Electricity Regulatory Commission of Chhatisgarh have approved the project.

The modalities for land acquisition, construction of the plant and transfer of power generated are being discussed.

The thermal plant site is connected by a railway line and State highway. Water will be supplied from the Mahanadi.

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