Karnataka Budget | State government to operationalise Godhna Thermal Power Plant, boost installed capacity

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has decided to operationalise the Godhna Thermal Power Plant to increase the state's installed capacity, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Friday while presenting the 16th budget at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.

The project, initially proposed in 2010 during the second term of BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, faced significant delays and has never materialised. Now, Siddaramaiah has pledged to kick-start the 800 MW capacity plant in Chhattisgarh, with an estimated project cost of Rs 13,000 crore, to be implemented through the tariff-based competitive bidding model.

"To meet the growing demand for electricity in the state and achieve the goal of increasing the state's installed capacity from 32 GW to 60 GW, as announced in the last budget, we have taken this step," Siddaramaiah said in his budget speech. "The installed capacity has increased from 31.83 GW to 34.99 GW over the past year," he added.

Additionally, Siddaramaiah announced that the tender process for the Sharavathi Pumped Storage Power Plant, with an estimated cost of Rs 10,240 crore and a capacity of 2000 MW, has been initiated. However, approval for the project is still pending from the Ministry of Ecology and Forests.

Under a public-private partnership, the energy department will also establish a 1000 MW/hr battery power storage facility to store energy generated from renewable sources.

Gruha Jyothi Scheme

A total of 1.62 crore beneficiaries are currently benefiting from the Gruha Jyothi Scheme, according to Siddaramaiah. "For 2024-25, Rs 9,657 crore was allocated for this scheme. In the current year, Rs 10,100 crore will be allocated to it," he said.

However, with all the ESCOMs having submitted proposals for tariff hikes and with minimal additional allocation, the Energy Department may face financial challenges if the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) approves the tariff hikes.

Other key announcements

• Electrification of 25,971 borewells under Ganga Kalyana scheme, electrification of 6,887 drinking water schemes, installation of 1.94 lakh transformers, 51,975 HT lines and 45,047 LT lines has been undertaken in the distribution sector.

• An allocation of Rs 16,021 crores has been made in respect of 33.84 lakh pump sets under the financial assistance scheme of the state government of power supply for irrigation pumpsets up to 10 hp capacity.

• The government's share in KUSUM-B scheme has been enhanced to 50 per cent, reducing beneficiary share to 20 per cent.

• Hundred new substations will be established at a cost of Rs 8.833 crore

• An allocation 850 crore to install distinct phase wire for street lights in gram panchayat.

• Exemption will be provided for conversion of agricultural lands where installation of renewable energy is being done in order to encourage renewable energy in the state.

• It is intended to generate an investment of Rs 5,000 crore through Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) and utilise the same for different schemes.