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| Uttarakhand buys power at higher rates |
| Shishir Prashant / New Delhi/ Dehra Dun Apr 20, 2009, 00:58 IST |
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States refuse return power due to general elections.
Uttarakhand is facing acute electricity crisis with the state-run power corporation finding it tough to buy it from other states even at higher rates.
Uttarakhand’s power blues were compounded after most of the states, with which it had entered into a banking arrangement, refused return power due to general elections.
Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) is under pressure from chief minister B C Khanduri not to go for electricity rostering and load shedding during the election time.
This has forced UPCL to buy power at exorbitant rates. The corporation is holding talks with various power companies in Gujarat, Delhi and Haryana and is also making efforts to overdraw from the northern grid. “There is tremendous pressure on us,” admitted a UPCL official.
Gujarat has agreed to provide 3.2 million units of electricity at Rs 12 per unit, UPCL sources said. On the other hand, the corporation is trying hard to buy electricity from Delhi, Harayana and other states.
Uttarakhand currently needs 23 million units of power and is facing a shortage of at least 6 million units. UPCL is already overdrawing from the northern grid even after getting the state’s share from the central pool. The demand in Uttarakhand this season is 2.2 million units more than the previous year due to rapid industrialisation in the state.
Electricity generation in Uttarakhand, which produces 12-13 million units of power during summer, has come down to nearly half due to receding water levels in various rivers.
When contacted UPCL officials admitted that the crisis was severe but said the situation was likely to improve in the next fortnight when the water levels in the rivers would improve due to melting of snow.
Officials of the Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited also said they were expecting 6 million unit more power during the summer when all the hydel projects run at full capacity.
UPCL has also pinned its hopes on the Kalagarh power plant, which is expected to regenerate 1.4 million units of power.
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