CM directs officials to provide 7 hours of electricity for agricultural pumpsets every day

BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday chaired a meeting of the Energy Department at his home office ‘Krishna’ and directed the officials to ensure seven hours of electricity every day to agricultural pumpsets.

The meeting, chaired by Siddaramaiah, was attended by Energy Minister K J George, chief minister’s political secretary Nazir Ahmed and senior officers of various departments. In the meeting, frequent load shedding in the state due to a lack of rainfall, was discussed for long hour.

ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ @siddaramaiah ಅವರ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷತೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ಇಂಧನ ಇಲಾಖೆ ಪರಿಶೀಲನಾ ಸಭೆಯ ಮುಖ್ಯಾಂಶಗಳು:

2022ನೇ ಇಸವಿಗೆ ಹೋಲಿಸಿದರೆ 2023 ರಲ್ಲಿ ವಿದ್ಯುತ್‌ ಬೇಡಿಕೆ ಸರಾಸರಿ ಶೇ. 43 ರಷ್ಟು ಹೆಚ್ಚಿದೆ. ಅಕ್ಟೋಬರ್‌ ತಿಂಗಳಲ್ಲಿ 15,978 ಮೆಗಾವ್ಯಾಟ್‌ ಬೇಡಿಕೆ ದಾಖಲಾಗಿದೆ. ವಿದ್ಯುತ್‌ ಬಳಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಳೆದ ವರ್ಷಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಶೇ. 45 ರಷ್ಟು… pic.twitter.com/JiGYNERHR6

— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) November 6, 2023

Compared to 2022, the demand for electricity in 2023 has increased by an average of 43 per cent, the officials pointed out and said the energy demand in October was 15.978 MW. The percentage of electricity consumption from last year has increased by  45 per cent up from 55 per cent to 119 per cent in agricultural activities. In other categories, there has been an increase of 9 to 14 per cent. This is mainly due to lack of rain, usage of IP sets earlier than usual and economic recovery after Covid-19.

Power production at the Raichur and Bellary thermal plants has increased after the last progress review. Power is also being sourced from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Under Section-11, orders are issued not to supply electricity to other states and power distribution has stabilised. Nodal officials are constantly monitoring the situation, the officials said.

The power utilities in the state are providing continuous power supply for a period of 5 to 7 hours as per the requirement of farmers. There is a need for 14 million units per day and 600 MW/hr to provide power to IP sets across the state for a continuous seven-hour of period and is estimated to cost Rs 1,500 crore.

So as not to burden the government, this cost will be met through savings and redistribution of grants. Steps are being taken to provide power to IP sets from solar power sources (solarisation of EIP feeders) in the next year. The tender process is under way and it will provide electricity to farmers during daylight hours by next year, the officials said.