From facing the situation of farmers taking to the streets demanding supply of power for at least six hours to the farm sector during the 2013-14 Rabi season, the power utilities in Telangana have geared up to meet demand even up to 10,000 MW during the coming months.
Consumption of power in the State, including by agriculture, is expected to reach to highest-ever level this season, particularly during February-April period, when the Rabi crops would be in the key stages. “We are all prepared to meet the demand even up to 10,000 MW during the coming summer, although it is ranging around 7,000 MW now,” Chairman and Managing Director of TS-Genco & Transco D. Prabhakar Rao stated recently.
Thanks to heavy rains across the State during July and September, the State has recorded 29 per cent surplus rainfall against the average for the south-west monsoon period this year, and it is likely to push up cultivation of crops to a maximum extent in the recent years, officials estimated.
Officials stated that there were about 17 lakh agriculture pumpset connections in the State and the rainfall of 925.2 mm recorded during June-September period, against the season normal of 713.6 mm, is expected to prompt farmers to tap groundwater through pumpsets.
Cultivated area
When contacted, Agriculture Department officials stated that they were expecting the cultivation during Rabi around 12 lakh hectares with paddy, maize and bengalgram crops taking a lion’s share. Rabi crops, most which are groundwater dependent, were cultivated only in 7.25 lakh hectares during 2015-16 Rabi and 10.88 lakh ha, 15.39 lakh ha and 11.35 lakh ha, respectively, during the three previous Rabi seasons.
Officials of the power utilities stated that 1,000 MW power supply from Chhattisgarh, power purchase agreement for which was inked last year itself, is expected to become available from January with the completion of Wardha-Maheshwaram transmission line.
“Spot purchases would not be more than 500 MW during the summer as necessary long-term and short-term supply arrangements are already put in place for meeting the demand up of 175 million units of energy from the present 140 MU,” a senior official of Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Ltd told The Hindu .
The power utilities have already spent about Rs.2,450 crore on improving infrastructure for supply (distribution) network by setting up new sub-stations and separation of agriculture feeders as the State Government has announced of supplying nine-hour power to farm sector. “There are about 5.46 lakh dedicated transformers for farm power supply in the State and about 4 per cent rolling stock is being maintained to meet exigencies during the peak demand,” the officials said.
