No more power cuts in Andhra

Coal shortage in the state has resulted in a decline in power production by about 70 million units in the thermal plants. To avert a drastic fall in power production, the chief minister asked the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) to give an additional 10 rakes of coal, according to energy minister Md Shabbir Ali.

He said Transco spent about Rs 1,170 crore in the last three months for purchasing about 1,600 million units to meet the demand in summer. It bought 610 million units in March at Rs 470 crore, 366 million units in April by spending Rs 281 crore and 608 million units in May for another Rs 482 crore. The state government is expected to buy around 370 million units this month at a cost of Rs 266 crore.

The demand would come down in the rainy season, he said adding the current demand stood at 169 million units per day, as compared with 152 million units during the same period last year. Due to the Srisailam dam shutdown for repairs, power generation would be suspended for some time and this would affect the supply-demand position. This would result in a further shortage of 10 million units per day.

"We would buy power from outside to meet the demand," he said, adding that the government bought power at Rs 7 to 8 per unit from other states (Rs 8 crore a day).