Power generation will be hit if coal is not allocated by March-end: DKS

Thermal Power generation is likely to be severely affected if coal is not allocated to the State by the Centre by March-end.

Speaking to reporters here at the Congress office, Energy Minister D K Shivakumar said the State had sought allocation of coal blocks at Baranj, Kiloni and Manodadeep located in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra for Ballari Thermal Power Station and Raichur power stations.

The coal from these blocks had been allocated to the State in 2003 but had been cancelled by the Supreme Court. Discontinuance of coal from April would affect generation of 1,000 MW of thermal power in the State, Shivakumar said. The State government had submitted a representation to Union Minister of State for Coal and Power Piyush Goyal on allocation of these blocks (which are nearest to the State) recently, minister said.

Allocation of coal blocks for the Gaodhna power plant in Chhatisgarh which has been taken up by the Karnataka Power Corporation has also been sought, he said.Shivakumar said the State at present faced a gap of 10 per cent between power supply and demand. The State is likely to be self-sufficient in power next year with 1,000 MW being added to the grid.

The minister said a disconnection drive will be taken up if regularisation of “unauthorised” irrigation pump sets is not done by March 31. Of the estimated two lakh unauthorised IP sets, as many as 60,000 had been regularised. Farmers have to register their IP sets and pay regularisation fee ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, the minister pointed out.

A seminar on power saving for farmer representatives will be organised in Bengaluru on March 14, he said.