Southern states to face serious power crisis

New Delhi, June 10: Several states are likely to undergo

supply shortage thin the current fiscal with

expected to receive less than three-fourth of its total requirements.

Kerala and Karnataka are also likely to be among the worst hits among the 17 states expected to witness serious power woes. Central Electricity Authority (CEA) estimates have shown that the four southern states and one Union Territory (UT) are likely to witness a power deficit of over 19 per cent in 2013-14.

The power deficit in the 2012-13 fiscal was 15.5 per cent, which shows the deteriorating power supply scenario in the southern region of the country.

The projections came up against the backdrop of acute power shortage in several parts of the country owing to fuel scarcity, poor financial condition of the discoms (power distribution units) and transmission problems.

According to the estimates, while the power deficit in Tamil Nadu is likely to be around 26.5 per cent, in Kerala the shortfall would be around 24.8 per cent. Karnataka is expected to witness 23.2 per cent shortage while Andhra Pradesh is likely to see 9.1 per cent shortage. The UT of Puducherry is projected to have a power supply surplus of nearly 10 per cent.

Among other states, Punjab (19.7 per cent), Bihar (19 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (18 per cent), Uttarakhand (15 per cent), Tripura (14 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (17.7 per cent), Rajasthan (15 per cent) are likely to face substantial power shortage. Maharashtra (9.8 per cent), Jharkhand (6.8 per cent), Odisha (0.8 per cent) are likely to witness lesser power crisis.

The North-Eastern region is expected to see a power deficit of 11.3 per cent, followed by the Northern (5.8 per cent) and Western (1.2 per cent) regions. The Eastern region is projected to see a power surplus of 10.2 per cent.

The figures are based on the difference in supply and demand of power calculated on million units basis.

On the power shortage in the Southern region, the CEA said transmission constraints between Northern-North Eastern-Eastern-Western-Southern Regional Grid is the likely reason behind this.

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