APGCL produces only 260 MW of power: Minister

Assam is heavily dependent on power procured from external agencies to meet its demand as it has very limited power generation capacity of its own, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary told the state Assembly on Tuesday.

The power demand during the peak hour (1700 hours to 2200 hours) is about 1,850 MW, against which the Assam Power Generation Corporation Ltd (APGCL) produces 260 MW on its own, Patowary said in response to a written question.

Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL) in a bid to meet the electricity demand, procures about 1,200 MW power from the Central quota, 4 MW from private sectors and nearly 650 MW from Energy Exchange, he said.

APGCL is implementing various projects to enhance its own power generating capacity like the 1x100 MW Namrup Replacement Power Project, 70 MW Amguri Solar Power Project, 15 MW Namrup Solar Project and 120 MW Lower Kopili Power Project.

The various projects under APDCL are 100 MW (4x25) solar power projects at Udalguri, Kamrup (rural), Nagaon and Cachar districts, Patowary said.

Tender process for setting up of a project for additional 100 MW generation has also been started, he added.

In 2018-19, the government earned Rs 169.93 crore as monthly bill from domestic electricity consumers, Rs 81.06 crore from commercial consumers and Rs 171.75 crore from other consumers.

There are altogether 56,14,881 electricity consumers in the state up to May, 2019, which includes 52,20,225 domestic consumers, 2,78,943 commercial consumers and 21,673 industrial consumers, Patowary added.