Moily to discuss grid failure with CMs

"If I tell you something right now, tomorrow it will prevent discussions (with states).

"It will embarrass both me and them. I must have a comfortable and harmonious atmosphere to discuss things," Moily told PTI when asked about the possible reasons for the collapse of power grids.

Moily, who assumed charge as Power Minister on Wednesday, has called a meeting of chief ministers of states which were affected by the failure of transmission grids.

The meeting of chief ministers of eight states and administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh has been called on August 6.

However, without linking it to failure of grids, Moily said there are issues like overdrawals of electricity.

In response to a query on whether overdrawing by states was one of the factors for the grids' collapse, Moily said, " "I cannot say right now".

The Power Ministry has already set up a three-member panel, headed by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) Chairperson A S Bakshi, to look into the tripping of grids. The committee is expected to submit its report in a fortnight.

When asked about the panel, Moily said, "we are not going to speak on the initial probe".

A preliminary investigation by PowerGrid subsidiary Power Systems Operation Co Ltd (P0SOCO) -- which manages grids -- has found there were power overdrawals in parts of the grids.

The collapse of Northern, Eastern and North Eastern grids on Tuesday afternoon hit more than half of India's population.

The incident took place less than 24 hours after restoration of Northern Grid, that had tripped on Monday.