AP to get additional 375 MW with RIL KG basin production

Hyderabad, July 2 (UNI) Power situation will ease in Andhra Pradesh once the Reliance Industries Ltd(RIL) starts its gas production from the Krishna-Godavari basin in September next, State Revenue Minister D Prasada Rao said here today.

Briefing newspersons on the deliberations at the two-day Collector's conference, chaired by Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Mr Rao said the state will get an additional 375 MW of power once the RIL started commercial production.

The state government is taking all necessary steps to step up power generation to 8,000 MW during the 11th plan period, he said.

The energy shortfall, which is of the order of 663 MW now, will come down to 140 MW by November this year, he said, adding that the State Transmission Corporation (TRANSCO) has been asked to purchase power from other states from now till November to meet the farmers' power demand during the Kharif season.

The state government has urged the Union Power Ministry to restore the 50 MW of power reduced to Andhra Pradesh from the unallocated power from the Central grid, to meet the ''unprecendented'' increase in demand to some extent, official sources said.

Currently, the base availability is 5,813 MW and hydel generation is 1,683 MW. To meet the demand and preserve water, the APTRANSCO is purchasing power up to maximum of 215 MW and overdrawing from the grid up to 800 MW, depending on the availability, the sources added.

The peak demand met during June 2008 was 8,145 MW as against 7,273 MW during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 11.9 per cent.

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