Uttar Pradesh to buy power from Himachal

To meet the increased demand during summer months, the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) has decided to buy electricity from Himachal Pradesh.

Officials of the UPPCL have held talks on this with the Power Trading Corporation (PTC), which will negotiate with the Himachal government.

The UPPCL has quoted the highest rate of Rs 7.01 per unit for the electricity to be purchased from the PTC and is now hoping that import will begin from April.

According to the managing director of the UPPCL, Avneesh Awasthi, the PTC will finalise deal with the Himachal government in 3-4 days as the budget session is going on there.

Talking to Business Standard, Awasthi said the Himachal government will provide 330 Mw in April while from May to October the import will be 630 Mw.

To pay the import bill, the corporation, which is facing a financial crunch, has sought Rs 1,800 crore from the UP government. "We have made a request to the state government for the funds and hopefully by next month, it can be managed," said Awasthi.

According to Awasthi, the rates quoted to the PTC are Rs 7.01 per unit for the period from April to September while from October onward the corporation is ready to pay at Rs 6.01 per unit. At present there is a restricted demand of 7,000 Mw in UP, against which the supply is only 5,500 Mw.

The corporation is buying 3,000-3,500 Mw from the central grid, from which it cannot draw more.

Officials are expecting that during May and June the demand in the state will be more than 8,000 Mw while the generation from hydro plants will come down. At present the total generation from thermal plants is 3,000 Mw while hydro units are providing 4,00 Mw. Besides, Tata Power is selling 100 Mw to UP between 12 in the night and 6 am everyday. According to UPPCL officials, the situation will be better after supply from Himachal begins.