High-level meet soon in Delhi on AP power crisis

Chief Secretary PK Mohanty to explain State's hardships in June 3rd week Hyderabad: Finally, it seems the Central government has decided to take steps for resolving AP State's power crisis, as a high level meeting chaired by Union Cabinet Secretary involving all key central departments will be organised in New Delhi in the third week of June on the issue. State Chief Secretary PK Mohanty will make a Powerpoint presentation to the senior officials of the Union Power, Coal and Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministries to explain them the hardships faced by all categories of consumers, with special emphasis on the industrial sector due to power crisis in the meeting.

He will explain the efforts made by the State government to reach the ultimate goal of self-sufficiency in the power sector and the short and long term strategies that are contemplated to achieve the desired level of generation and capacity addition. Sources said that the Chief Secretary has decided to strongly pitch for allocation of an assured quota of natural gas as well as coal for the augmenting generation so that the State could overcome the shortages in the immediate term. In the long term, the government would continue its concerted efforts to construct and commission new power projects apart from keeping the option open for procurement of power from other sources, both within and outside the State, to meet contingencies as and when they arise. During his recent visit to Delhi, Mohanty succeeded in convincing the Centre to take a serious view of the ongoing fuel crisis and take concrete remedial measures to redress the situation. The top officials of the Union ministries indicated that at the request made by the State government, the Cabinet Secretary of PMO has positively responded to hold a high level meeting of top officials of Ministry of Coal, Petroleum and Natual Gas with Chief Secretary and the top officials of the Energy department. Accordingly, the Chief Secretary has directed the officials of the power utilities to prepare a comprehensive action plan encompassing the necessary interventions required from the Union Power Ministry and other key departments to significantly improve the power situation in the State on a sustainable basis. Based on the action plan, the official will make a detailed presentation covering all aspects of the power sector that suffered adversely because of the shortage of fuel, forcing the government to impose restrictions on the power supply front. He will explain the areas of concern like idling of 2,534 MW, out of the installed capacity of 3,356 MW, gas-based power plants for want of adequate quota of natural gas. Sources said that the government's proposal to get an additional 17,126 MW power generation in the 12th five year plan will also be presented in the meeting. To achieve the ambitious plan for capacity addition, it is high time that the issues relating to fuel supply were resolved to the maximum extent, the Chief Secretary felt at an informal meeting with the officials of Energy department.