The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Central help must to avert power cut: Minister

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Tuesday, Mar 23, 2010
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Central help must to avert power cut: Minister

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State would be able to avert power cut and load shedding only if the Centre came forward to help it in a big way, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Vijayakumar told the Assembly on Monday.

Responding to a calling attention motion from K.V. Kunhiraman (CPI-M) on behalf of Power Minister A.K. Balan, Mr. Vijayakumar said there was a 20 per cent increase in power consumption in the State this year as compared to the situation last summer.

From 43.72 million units a day in February 2009, the average consumption had risen to 50.21 million units during the same month this year and further to 53.03 million units a day in March. The peak load had also marked a sharp increase over the last one year, he added.

Mr. Vijayakumar said the hydel reservoirs in the State currently had water to generate only 1,325 million units of power.

The government was supplying power without any curbs by purchasing power at a heavy price from outside sources. Several companies that promised to supply power to the State grid had backed out on account of the extremely high costs involved. The government was trying to secure power using all strategies, including power exchange, he said.

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