Loadshedding in rural areas withdrawn

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, NOV. 6. The 14-hour loadshedding in rural areas, which the State Government announced on Oct. 15, has been withdrawn since the State is buying 100 MW of power from Chhatisgarh and also due to the peak demand coming down, according to the Minister of State for Energy, Mr. Veerkumar Patil.

He told presspersons here on Tuesday that Karnataka would be buying power from Chhatisgarh at the rate of Rs. 2.80 per unit. With the withdrawal of the loadshedding, the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) would now supply three- phase power from 6-00 a.m. to noon and noon to 6-00 p.m. on alternate days. The single phase supply would be from 6-00 p.m. to 6-00 a.m.

Mr. Patil said that by lifting the loadshedding, the Government would incur an expenditure of Rs.1,200 crores for which it had made provision. He said that to provide eight-hour uninterrupted power supply to irrigation pumpsets, additional 500 MW of power was required. The Government was negotiating with Kerala in this regard.

The KPTCL Managing Director, Mr. V. P. Baligar, said that the daily demand was 76.55 million units, of which the State generated 44.66 million units and the rest was bought. In summer, the demand had increased to 95 million units and now the peak demand had decreased due to rainfall.

However, the storage position in the reservoirs had to improve from 49 per cent in Linganamakki, 43 per cent in Supa, and 63 per cent in Mani dams.

The Energy Secretary, Mr. K. P. Pandey, ruled out any tariff increase till the next financial year though various programmes of the KPTCL, including withdrawal of loadshedding, would cost it substantially.

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Section  : Southern States
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