Hyderabad: Telangana Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy acknowledged in the Assembly that there was a lack of electricity for agricultural users on Thursday and Friday but promised that starting on Saturday, farmers will receive uninterrupted power 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
State electricity utilities exceeded the previous peak demand of 14,166 MW on March 29, 2022, delivering 14,169 Megawatts on Friday, the day with the greatest peak demand.
He asserted that there would not be a power deficit for the agricultural sector in the next few days because the power companies had started to restore the supply as of Friday afternoon.
“As long as KCR is Chief Minister and the BRS is in power, there will be 24×7 free electricity supply to the farm sector,” the minister stated.
Jagadish Reddy accused the Union government for the 4,000 MW NTPC Ramagundam power plant’s delay, which will cost consumers Rs 9,637.27 crore.
“However, opposition leaders claim that the administration is buying influence by paying high fees. The cost increase is due to the NTPC plant’s delay in completion,” Jagadish Reddy explained. He also chastised the Centre for requiring power companies to use 30 percent imported coal in thermal power plants.
“SCCL provides one tonne of coal at Rs 3,600. That is why the Telangana refused to accept the Centre’s terms and never acquired foreign coal. However, our neighbouring state agreed to the terms and invited bids to purchase the imported coal. The suppliers quoted a price of Rs 40,000 per tonne. The tenders were revoked and re-invited by the neighbouring state. Telangana paid only Rs 3,600 per tonne, although the supplier demanded Rs 24,000 per tonne. As a result, there was no additional cost to our customers. Even BJP-ruled states were opposed to imported coal, Jagadish Reddy said.
