Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has asked Energy Department officials to speed up execution of the ongoing power projects, stating that the demand for power is expected to go up by over 3,500 MW from the coming year.
He was specific about the 4,000 MW Yadadri ultra mega power project comping up at Damaracherla being executed by the public sector Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. He wanted the officials and the executing agency to complete the project within three years.
He stated that the power demand was likely to increase by 3,500 MW next year since the government had already planned to provide 24×7 power supply to the agriculture sector besides the expected demand from the lift irrigation projects, new industries, metro rail and Mission Bhagiratha projects.
Payment to BHEL
The Chief Minister handed over a cheque for ₹417.16 crore as first instalment of the ₹20,379 crore project to Chairman and Managing Director of BHEL Atul Sobti here on Friday.
He said execution of the Yadadri power project was handed over to the BHEL both for transparency and timely completion. He directed the officials to commence the work on the project since land acquisition was completed and all clearances were secured already. He said the project would hold the key to the growing energy needs of Telangana and wanted the officials to take up work on all the five units simultaneously.
Progress reviewed
The progress of the 800 MW plant as part of the VII unit of Kothagudem Thermal Power Station and 4×270 MW Bhadradri Thermal Power Project at Manuguru in Kothagudem district were also discussed. Chairman and Managing Director of the Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Ltd (TS-Genco) D. Prabhakar Rao informed the Chief Minister that work on the Kothagudem plant would be completed in two-three months and the Manuguru project would be completed by the end of next year.
The Chief Minister wanted all arrangements to be made for the supply of 24-hour power to farmers. Keeping in view the requirements for lift irrigation schemes, industries, Mission Bhagiratha, metro rail project and other projects, planning should be done, he said.
Energy Minister G. Jagadish Reddy, Chief Secretary S.P. Singh, Special Chief Secretary Ajay Misra, Principal Secretary S. Narsing Rao, Directors of TS-Genco C. Radhakrishna and M. Sachidanandam, Executive Director of BHEL A.K.M. Mukhopadhyaya and TS-Transco Joint MD C. Srinivas Rao attended the event.
