While ordering the officials of the Energy Department to ensure adequate coal reserves at the thermal stations, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday suggested that the production at the A.P. Mineral Development Corporation’s (APMDC) Suliyari Coal Mines in Madhya Pradesh be ramped up to add to the existing supplies.
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Addressing a review meeting on the Energy Department at his camp office, near here, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy asked the officials to supply power to the industries without any interruption even during the peak demand days. He directed that the scope for utilising the sea route at Krishnapatnam for importing coal be examined.
Coal swapping
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said the sea route to transport coal would lead to substantial reduction in cost, and that the officials should consider innovative ideas like coal swapping.
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Taking stock of the Polavaram power project, the Chief Minister instructed the authorities to finalise the tenders by December. Officials told him that the construction of two units, with a capacity of 115 MW each, at lower Sileru would be completed by April 2024.
Meters for pump sets
With regard to installation of meters for agricultural pump sets, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials to create awareness among the farmers about its benefits.
The fact that the entire bills would be paid by the government and the pilot project that was implemented in Srikakulam district yielded a saving of 33.75 MUs should be highlighted, he added.
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The officials told him that keeping in view the high demand for power, 1,268.7 MUs were purchased at a cost of ₹1,123.7 crore in March 2022. In April, 1,047.8 MUs were bought at a cost of ₹1,022.4 crore followed by 739.72 MUs in May at a cost of ₹832.92 crore and 936.22 MUs in June at ₹745.75 crore. So far in July, ₹125.95 crore was spent on procurement of 180.96 MUs.
Unit-3 of Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station would be made operational from September and the fifth stage of Narla Tatarao Thermal Power Station from February 2023.
Dwindling supplies
As far as the coal supply was concerned, the officials said there had been a lack of supply of sufficient quantities and the gap was increasing every year. They said that in 2019-20, only 20.84 MMTs had been received, whereas the agreement was for 26.85 MMTs. In 2020-21, only 10.51 MMTs were received against 25.38 MMTs. In 2021-22, only 18.12 MMTs were supplied to the State against a total indent of 25.38 MMTs.
Minister for Energy P. Ramachandra Reddy, Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma, Special Chief Secretary (energy) K. Vijayanand, Secretary (finance) N. Gulzar, and AP-Transco CMD B. Sreedhar were present.