CM seeks more power for state from Centre

Realising that the problem of power shortage would magnify in future as the power generation capacity has not gone up, Yeddyurappa on Wednesday appealed to the Planning Commission to recommend the Centre to increase its share of electricity from the present 15 per cent.

Interacting with Planning Commission member Kirit Parikh here, Yeddyurappa said the state was being meted out a step-motherly treatment on the power-front as its share from the Centre is low when compared to neighbouring Tamil Nadu (37 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (31 per cent).

He also appealed to the Centre to establish power generating stations in the state under the aegis of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and to sanction schemes under the second phase of the Accelerated Power Development Reforms Project, besides earmarking funds for strengthening existing transmission infrastructure.

Yeddyurappa's move to go high decibel on the power front, BJP sources contend, is aimed at neutralising any discontent among farmers.

"The new chief minister has just now managed to wriggle out of the mess caused by shortage of fertiliser, and now he does not want power shortage to dent his popularity. So the best way to diffuse the crisis is by lobbing the ball into the Centre's court," sources explained.

The state's power scenario, which has been bleak as the generation capacity has not gone up to commensurate with the increase in the number of consumers, received a rude shock recently when Yeddyurappa reiterated the promise to provide free power to the over 1.6 million irrigation pumpsets.

Not enthused by the move, a senior official of the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited asked: "Where will Yeddyurappa get power from? Some serious thinking should have had happened before the promise was made to farmers."

While the present energy availability in the state is 39,996 MUs, the requirement by 2012 is estimated to touch 53,540 MUs. However, the installed capacity from all the sources