The Hindu : Load shedding in villages cut to 11 hours

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 19, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Load shedding in villages cut to 11 hours

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE June 18. From Thursday, load shedding in rural areas will be reduced from 17 hours to 11 hours, the Minister of State for Energy, Basavaraj Patil Humnabad, has said.

He told presspersons here on Wednesday that the new schedule was decided after a power review committee (PRC) meeting. The reduced load shedding was due to the additional six million units (MU) of power from the Talcher-Kolar line, he said.

Villages used to get power for seven hours — four hours in three phase, and three hours in single phase. Now, they will get 13 hours of power: nine hours of three-phase supply from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and midnight to 5 a.m.; and four hours of single-phase supply between 7 p.m. and midnight.

The PRC would meet after the first unit of the Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) was restored on June 20, Mr. Humnabad said. The five-hour cuts in urban areas, excluding Bangalore, would remain till the unit was restored. The second unit was expected to resume functioning after July 25.

The Managing Director of the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd., K.N. Srivastava, said the KPTCL could only supply 67.5 mu earlier. It could now provide 72 mu This was because of the availability of surplus Eastern Region power at night at a low rate through the "Availability-based tariff regime". Besides, the 500-MW Talcher unit dedicated to the Southern Region had been restored, and the 500-MW unit at Ramagundam was expected to be restored after two weeks.

Asked about hydel inflows, he said Linganamakki recorded 2,000 cusecs on Tuesday, and Supa 200 cusecs. There was no inflow into Varahi.

Meanwhile, the KPTCL has gone to the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) with a new Rs. 3.80 paise per unit (inclusive of duty) incentive scheme for industries that consume power over and above the contract demand. "Our petition will be heard on the 19th,'' Mr. Srivastava said.

Stay on order

The KPTCL has also got a court stay on the KERC's order reducing three months' minimum deposit (3mmd) to two months' minimum deposit. Now, consumers seeking fresh connections must pay 3mmd till the case is disposed of.

Asked about the amendment of the Karnataka Electricity Reform Act to bring in multiyear tariff, Mr. Humnabad said the Government was yet to decide on the matter.

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Load shedding in villages cut to 11 hours