Kothapatnam substation inaugurated

Ongole: Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar said the government is expanding power infrastructure to meet the rising demand in Andhra Pradesh. He inaugurated a 132/33 KV Transco substation at Kothapatnam in Ongole constituency of Prakasam district on Thursday.

Speaking at the meeting, the minister told the gathering that the new substation cost Rs 44.25 crore and will provide quality, uninterrupted power to 22430 consumers across the agriculture, domestic, industrial, commercial, and aqua sectors. He noted that work on new substations, transformers, feeders, poles and lines is underway. Old conductors are also being replaced. The minister said Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) works in Prakasam district are 70 per cent complete. He said that the government is spending Rs 366 crore, and work on 213 of the 307 feeders is over.

So far, the district has given 2950 agriculture connections, and another 446 farmers will get connections soon. He urged people to use the PM Surya Ghar scheme. He said 26609 SC and ST consumers in the district got rooftop solar units free of cost. He told officials to finish the remaining solar connections in two months.

The minister said Prakasam district already has 11 substations under CPDCL, with 7 more under construction. Transco is spending Rs 6,000 crore on substations across the state. He criticised the YSRCP government for neglecting the power sector between 2019 and 2024. He said the alliance government did not increase charges.

Daily demand has grown from 26.5 crore units to 29 crore units. MLA Damacharla Janardhana Rao and CPDCL CMD Pullareddy also attended the programme. Later, the minister and the MLA inaugurated a skill development centre in Ongole to train in EV and Drone technologies.

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