24-hour power to agri sector experiment successful:T'gana govt

The Telangana government today said the experiment to supply uninterrupted 24-hour power to the agriculture sector in the state has been "successful".
The experiment, to gauge the demand of power and load on transformers and sub-stations, started on the midnight of November 6. A total of 23 lakh pump-sets were supplied uninterrupted power during this time, an official release said.
Telangana State Genco Chairman and Managing Director D Prabhakar Rao told Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao that the 24-hour power supply on the experimental basis would continue till tomorrow midnight.
From November 21 onwards the regular nine-hour power supply will resume to the farm sector, he said.

Prabhakar Rao said from January 1, 2018 onwards the regular 24-hour power supply will be given to the agriculture sector as desired by the Chief Minister.
"For the past 14 days, we are supplying 24-hour power to the agriculture pump sets in the state. As a result there is clarity on what will be the demand in the entire state and on what is the additional load transformers-wise and sub stations-wise. This 24-hour uninterrupted supply of power on an experimental basis has been successful," Prabhakar Rao said.

"The experience we have gained by supplying 24-hour power during the experimental period would help us to give 24-hour supply on a continuous basis from January 1, 2018.

"However, some farmers told us that some people are running the pump sets for 24 hours leading to depletion of the ground water," he added.
The Chief Minister in a meeting with Prabhakar Rao at Pragati Bhavan reviewed the experiment.