Andhra Pradesh purchases power from Central grid

Vijayawada, Feb 27: The Andhra Pradesh Government was purchasing 300 MW power from Central grid to meet the state's requirement.

Informing this at a press conference at Kaikaluru yesterday (Feb 26, 2006), State Energy Minister Mohammad Ali Shabeer said the government was spending Rs 2.22 crore per day on purchasing power from the Central grid.

He also informed the Electricity Department earned a profit of Rs 250 crore due to efficient functioning, in the last three months.

There were 24.53 lakh agricultural connections in the state and 157.5 million units of power was being consumed.

If power consumption crossed 168 million units, there was a danger of the southern power grid failing and power cuts could be imposed in the state.

Mr Shabeer said power was being supplied in two phases to the agriculture sector as utilisation was growing by the day in every district.

He said there was abudance of water in the Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar reservoirs and hydro power generation had been reduced to utilise every drop of water properly. The government would provide water to delta and other areas by June one.

UNI