Power for All scheme by Oct 2 in AP

State signs 7 MoUs with Centre

• 4,000 mw ultra mega thermal power plant in Vizag dist
• 3 solar power parks in Seema to produce 2,500 mw power
• Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal all praise for Naidu
• Honda Motors to set up plant in Chittoor district

Hyderabad: A day after creating a record by holding the first e- cabinet meeting in the country, the Andhra Pradesh Government signed seven MoUs on Tuesday with the Union Ministry of Power and announced the launching of 'Power for All' scheme from October 2 in the state.

Andhra Pradesh is the third state in the country after Delhi and Rajasthan where the scheme is being launched to ensure 24x7 power to all sectors (excluding agriculture).

The state government, in the presence of Union Minister for Power Piyush Goyal, also signed an MoU with the NTPC for setting up a 4000 MW super critical ultra mega thermal power project in Visakhapatnam district at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore.

The state government allotted 1200 acres of land for the power project which is expected to be commissioned by 2019-20. MoUs were also signed between the state government and the Centre for setting up three solar power parks in the Rayalaseema region of AP with a combined generation capacity of 2500 mw.

Another MoU was signed between Hero Motors and the state Industries Department under which the former will set up a two-wheeler manufacturing unit at Satyaveedu in Chittoor district with an investment of Rs 2200 crore.

Speaking on the occasion, Goyal exalted Naidu for his vision and persuasive power in making the Centre to accept his proposals.

He said Naidu’s marathon race for development of the state will definitely yield results and make AP the top state in the country in regard to power.

Naidu was the first CM in the country who had met him within 48 hours after he assumed charge and since then everytime he met him he had been coming up with a wish list to strength the power sector in AP. “During every meeting I had with Naidu including this occasion to sign the MoU I have been learning something new from him. Today he told me that the Centre should aim to peg the target to bring down T&D losses to 9 per cent and not 14 per cent.”

The Union Minister said at this pace AP would have an installed capacity of power generation of about 27,000 mw, three times more than the present capacity, in the next five years. He also praised the government for adopting Energy Conservation measures.

Goyal suggested Naidu to link the electricity connections and power bill payments to the bank accounts so that the centre’s ‘ Jan Dhan Yojana’ launched to provide bank accounts can become a success in the new state. The union minister also patted Naidu for selecting Vijayawada as the new state capital and hoped the city would be a world class smart city in the future.

Naidu said that the objective of the government was to provide quality power to all at an affordable cost under the PFA scheme. All the measures taken to strengthen the power sector was only a beginning, the CM said adding that Rs 88,000 crore would be spent on Energy in the next five years. He said the major challenge before him was to move forward the crisis ridden state by streamlining all sectors.