State to buy 200 MW of power from Gujarat

The State government will purchase additional 200 MW of power from Gujarat from January to meet the demand during the summer months, Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters here, Karandlaje said the State now purchases 1,280 MW from Gujarat, Chattisgarh and private producers to bridge the gap between demand and supply.

The additional power will ensure uninterrupted supply between 6 pm and 6 am from January in both rural and urban areas. This will benefit students preparing for examination, she said.

In rural areas, the government provides six hours of three-phase power supply, four hours in the morning and two hours at night.

The minister said maintenance work at the second unit of the Bellary Thermal Power Station was nearing completion and 500 MW will be added to the State grid from January.

The second unit of the coal-based thermal plant of the Udupi Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) will generate 600 MW. The State will also receive 221 MW from the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.

Now, 1,064 MW is generated from hydel plants. An additional 33 MW of power will be generated during summer by utilising hydel reserves.

Besides, the second phase of the “Nirantara Jyothi” project, purported to ensure round-the-clock power supply in villages (other than irrigation pumpsets) in 56 taluks, will be completed by March next year.

The government will write to the Union energy and coal ministers requesting coal allotment for the Yermarus, Yedallapura and Bellary thermal plants.

She said the State government will urge the Centre to declare the tomb of Sangolli Rayanna at Nandgad in Belgaum a national memorial. Rayanna was the army chief of the kingdom of Kittur and fought against the British in 1831.

The government will also develop Nandgad to attract more tourists, she said.