Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today said his government is taking steps to make the state "power surplus" and has an investment outlay of Rs 94,000 crore for the sector.
Making a statement in the Legislative Assembly, Rao said that since last night, the state-run power utilities have started supplying 24-hour free power to 23 lakh agriculture pump sets on an "experimental basis".
"As soon as Telangana state was formed (in June 2014), the government gave utmost priority to uplift the state from power crisis. Short term, medium term and long term planning was evolved and implemented. An action plan was developed to transform Telangana into a power surplus state with an investment of about Rs 94,000 crore," Chandrasekhar said.
The government took steps to accelerate the pace of generation plant works, he said, adding that the construction of new plants was started and transmission as well as distribution systems were also strengthened, he said.
Power corporations are fully geared up to supply 11,000 MW to meet the demand on account of 24 hours of power for the agriculture sector in the coming Rabi season.
"I am happy to announce to the people of Telangana through this august house that Telangana has created new record of supplying quality power free of cost for 24 hours to the agriculture sector.
"For the first time in the history, 24 hours power is being supplied from last night on an experimental basis to 23 lakh agricultural pump sets in the state," Chandrasekhar said.
The power utilities of the state will closely monitor the transmission and distribution network for five to six days and supply 24-hour uninterrupted power on a permanent basis from the coming Rabi season, he said.
In Telangana, 25 per cent of power (consumption in the state) is being utilised by the agricultural pump sets, he said.
Rao alleged there was a power deficit of 2,700 MW at the time of Telangana state formation and that the supply was not commensurate with the demand due to the "negligent attitude and lack of planning" of the erstwhile government.
"There was absolute doom in all sectors," he claimed.
When the Telangana state was formed, the installed capacity was 6,574 MW and in the last three-and-a-half years, an additional 7,981 MW was commissioned from various sources, he said.
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