Tech-savvy Naidu holds firstever e-Cabinet meet

Centre seeks details of the new concept

• Two DY CMs and some ministers could not operate properly; Naidu threatens action against them
• Cabinet decides on MoU with Centre for 6,500mw power projects
• Vizag to get 4,000 mw thermal power plant
• Seema to have 2,500 mw solar power plants

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government which completes 100 days in office on Tuesday becomes the first in the country to hold an e-cabinet meet. What this means for ministers is that they don't have to cart reams of papers and files, either carrying it themselves or getting an assistant to do it for them.

It is learnt that the Centre has sought details of the e-cabinet concept from the state government. The three-hour cabinet meeting chaired by N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday expressed satisfaction that it had succeeded in neutralising the gap between demand and supply of power and is now going ahead with green field power generation projects with the help of the central government. The state cabinet endorsed the decision of the government to ink a MoU with the Union Government for 6,500 MW power projects. Of this a 4000 MW thermal project will come up at Visakhapatnam while 2,500 MW solar projects will be located in Rayalaseema. Of the 2,500 MW projects, 1000 MW project will be set up at Kadiri in Anantapur district. The cabinet has allocated 5,500 acres of land for the purpose. The project would cost Rs 7,000 crore. Another project of the same capacity was sanctioned for Panyam in Kurnool district.

This project will come up in about 5000 acres. A 500 MW solar plant for Kadapa in 3,000 acres in Galiveeru village was also cleared by the cabinet. An MoU with the centre will be signed with Union Minister for Energy Piyush Goel. “All these solar projects would be taken up by the Solar Energy Corporation of India for which the Central Government would fund 50 per cent of the cost, APGenco 41 per cent and Nedcap 9 per cent,’’ Raghunadha Reddy said. He said Andhra Pradesh would be self-sufficient shortly and might become a surplus State after completion of these projects.

The present power demand is 133 million units per day against the supply of 131.4 million units, a small deficit of 0.6 million units.

To ensure quality power, 9,624 feeder lines in the State would be monitored to supervise daily demand, supply and deficiency. And energy audit would be conducted in all the 13 districts, a project being taken up for the first time in the country, the minister added.

He said 14.5 per cent transmission and distribution losses and theft was the second lowest in the country next to Kerala which registered 12 per cent. The Andhra Pradesh cabinet on Monday approved extending the ban on Maoist organisations for one more year.