No power cut in Odisha till April end

State to draw 400 Mw from Delhi, Punjab via power banking, will also rely on conserved hydro power to meet energy deficit

The state government has ruled out any power cut till the end of April this year, hoping to tide over any possible deficit through conserved hydro power and power banking.

Odisha would be drawing 400 Mw power from Delhi and Punjab through the power banking mode. The decision to refrain from load shedding was taken at a meeting today held under the chairmanship of energy minister Pranab Prakash Das. The meeting took stock of the action plan prepared by the energy department to overcome power shortfall.

"We will be getting power from Delhi and Punjab via power banking. The government has taken a decision not to resort to power cut till the end of April this year", Das said.

Known to be a power surplus state, Odisha faced peak power shortage of 500 Mw last year triggered by deficient monsoons that plunged drastically the hydro power production. Power distribution companies took to load shedding to cope uo with the deficit.