CM seeks additional gas for power plants

Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today urged Union ministers to decide in favour of converting the fall back supply of 3.22 mmscmd (million metric standard cubic metre per day) gas into firm allocation at the ensuing EGoM meeting. This, he said, would ensure that the gas-based power projects in the state operate at full capacity.

The chief minister wrote separate letters with similar request to Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee, SushilKumar Shinde and S Jaipal Reddy.

Gas power projects with a total capacity of about 2770 Mw have been in operation in the state. However, they are running at 75 per cent plant load factor (PLF) since the fall back supply of 3.22 mmscmd of natural gas was stopped from November last year on account of the fall in Reliance Industries' K-G D6 wells. This has resulted in a net generation loss of 600 Mw per day.

Reddy stated that the gas power projects had started operating at 75 per cent PLF after the petroleum ministry directed RIL to supply the available natural gas to only priority sector projects in the country.

“In the light of the above, I request you to kindly decide in the ensuing EGoM meeting for conversion of the fall back supply of 3.22 mmscmd to firm allocation. Upon allocation of firm linkage all the gas power projects in the state will continue to ensure full supply to the state since 100 per cent power generated accrues to AP discoms who are the only distribution licensees of power in the state,” the chief minister said in these letters.

INTEREST SUBVENTION TO SHGS
In another letter, the chief minister requested Mukherjee to extend the interest subvention scheme to the self help groups(SHGs). While thanking the Union minister for announcing 7 per cent interest rate on short-term agricultural loans with another 3 per cent interest subvention on timely repayments, Reddy said SHGs too deserved a similar credit facility. Though SHG-bank linkage brought these poor families out of the clutches of money lenders, the 12 per cent interest on bank loans was also far exceeding the rate of return on most of the rural livelihood activities, he said.