More power to be purchased
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 29
The supply of power in Haryana is likely to improve from July 1 with the state government sure to get an additional 1,462.4 MW at a cost of Rs 672.51 crore from other sources. It will be followed by the purchase of an additional 1,082.4 MW at a cost of Rs 502.06 crore during August and 1,092.4 MW at a cost of Rs 488.52 crore in September.

This was revealed at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to review the short-term and long-term measures being taken by the power utilities to improve the availability of power to consumers of various categories in the state, here today.

The Chief Minister directed the power utilities to ensure uninterrupted supply of power for at least eight hours daily to the agricultural sector from July 1 and maintain this supply during August and September. He reiterated the commitment of the government to provide adequate power to the farmers for timely sowing of paddy.

It was also observed that there was a proposal to supply power for 16 hours to the industrial sector from July 1 and consumers in urban areas would get 21 hours’ supply of power. Similarly, the rural domestic consumers would get 13 hours’ supply in July followed by 13.5 hours in August and for 14 hours in September.

Hooda also reviewed the progress of the work on segregation of feeders. It was appreciated that 1149 feeders of 11 kV have been completed and the work on the remaining 78 feeders in Narnaul, Jhajjar and Bhiwani districts will be completed next month.

While reviewing the long-term measures taken to improve the power situation, it was observed that construction work on the 2X600 MW Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Project at Khedar in Hisar district was going on at full swing. The ‘light up’ of the boiler of its first unit has been planned in the last week of July and its first unit will be commissioned before December and the second unit before March 2010.

The first unit of the 3X500 MW Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project, Jhajjar, is likely be commissioned in April 2010 while the other two units will be made functional during October 2010 and February 2011, respectively.

The construction work on the 2X660 MW Mahatma Gandhi Thermal Power Project, Jhajjar, was also reviewed. It was observed that the first unit of this power project, based on latest super-critical technology, would commence generation by December 2011 and the second unit by May 2012.

Those present in the meeting included Haryana Power Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala and other senior officers of the power utilities.