Ap Industrial Units To Face Further Power Cuts

Industrial consumers in Andhra Pradesh may face further power cuts of 20 per cent and domestic consumers additional 90-minute cuts in the near future.

At present, industrial consumers in the state face power cuts ranging from 30 to 40 per cent while domestic consumers face four-hour cuts in two phases.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who also holds the power portfolio, told the legislative assembly yesterday that the additional cuts have been necessitated by the need to keep up the Governments commitment of nine hours of power supply to the agricultural sector.

He said that despite getting an additional three million units of power daily from National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)s eastern regional stations and a marginal improvement in generation from hydel and thermal units within the State, a shortfall of 17 million units per day has to be met.

 

Naidu said the the farm sectors power needs will increase in March when the crop comes for harvest. It is necessary to maintain at least nine hours supply to them. This calls for some sacrifice by the other sectors.

He also announced a final chance - the fourth in a series to farmers having illegal connections to their pumpsets to get them regularised by paying a penalty at the rate of Rs 2,000 per horse power.

He made it clear that all illegal pumpsets will be removed after the expiry of the deadline on March 15. He also warned against use of farm power for cooking and other illegal purposes.

Intensive checking for pilferage will be launched from March 16, he announced.