Whitepaper demanded on power situation

A ruling Congress member in the Karnataka Assembly today demanded a white paper on power situation in the state.
Raising the issue, Basavarajraya Reddy said there was a stark gap between demand and supply of power and "the white paper should contain details of power generation, and its demand and supply."
Citing the gap in demand and supply, Reddy said as per details furnished by Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, as against the state's capacity to generate power is 15,000 mw, the supply is at 7,500 mw as of now.
Reddy said there were 24 lakh irrigation pumpsets in the state and for domestic and commercial purpose put together the demand is for 12,000 mw of power daily and there is shortage of 30 to 40 per cent.

Reddy complained though there is enough scope to increase power generation through renewable sources like hydel, thermal and solar, the government does not have a will.
Former Chief Minister and JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy said the state was reeling under power shortage due to government's neglect of the power sector in last 20 years. Even the investors were shying away from investing in the sector due to the government's apathy, he added.
The government, instead of attracting investments in the sector, more often than not purchases power from other states, which has snowballed into a crisis, Kumaraswamy said.
"During the rule of the previous government about Rs 17,000 crore was spent on purchase of power and not even a single unit was generated," he said.