Shinde accepts overall shortage of power in country

New Delhi, May 7 (UNI) While accepting in Parliament that there is an overall shortage of power in the country, the government today said the extent of shortage in various areas would depend on temperature and amount of rain in the coming months.

The extent of shortage of power in the country in the coming months would primarily depend on the ambient temperature as well as intensity of monsoon in various state and regions, union Power Minister Shushilkumar Shinde informed the Rajya Sabha in a reply.

The shortages would vary from state to state and season to season, as well as the time of day depending on the demand and supply of power, he said.

Peak shortage in the country during March this year was 13,728 MW which increased to 14,405 MW in April.

Electricity was a concurrent subject. Supply and distribution of power in a state was the responsibility of the respective state government that made arrangements for supply of power to various categories of consumers/areas in a state, Mr Shinde said.

Load shedding and power cuts were resorted to by the respective state depending on demand of power and its availability and their priorities for distribution, he said.

The central government supplemented the efforts of the state by way of addition to generation capacity and estabilishment of bulk high voltage transmission system in the Central Sector through Central Public Sector Undertakings, he added.

The minister also listed a number of steps taken by the union government, including optimum utilisation of available power through inter-state and inter-regional transmission system, to mitigate the situaiton of power shortage in the country in the coming months.

UNI