Jaya asks Centre to allocate 1,000 MW power

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has asked the Union government to allocate additional power to the tune of 1000 MW to the state from the Central pool from June 2011 to May 2012.

The request comes in the backdrop of a severe power shortage in the state affecting agriculture sector, industry and domestic consumers. Additional power generation in the state would take one or two years, considering that the new projects including the Centre-sponsored power projects are in various stages of construction, she noted in a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"Even the central power projects such as the Koodankulam Atomic Power station (2x1000 MW) and Neyveli Thermal Power Station stage II expansion (2x250 MW), which were expected to commence power generation by 2009 are yet to be completed and commissioned," she said.

Owing to the increasing demand and stagnant generation of power, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) has been resorting to scheduled load shedding of around 1,500 MW and frequent unscheduled load shedding. "Agriculture is the worst-hit sector due to irregular and inadequate supply of power to agricultural pump sets, thus affecting food production," she added.

Though the new government has taken steps to improve energy efficiency, the power shortage is likely to continue for some more time due to lack of capacity for additional generation of power.

The state government has also requested the Prime Minister to issue instructions to speed up the completion of the ongoing central power projects in Tamil Nadu.