Telangana farmers to get free 24-hour power from January

Hyderabad, Dec 28 : In a New Year gift to farmers in Telangana, the state government on Thursday announced free 24-hour electricity supply to them from January 1.

The state electricity authorities have made all arrangements for uninterrupted supply to the 23 lakh pump sets from midnight of December 31.

Telangana State Generation Corporation (TS Genco) and Telangana State Transmission Corporation (TS Transco) Chairman and Managing Director D. Prabhakar Rao on Thursday reviewed the preparedness with the officials.

It is estimated that with round-the-clock supply, the demand will touch 11,000 megawatts by March.

Though there are some states that give free power to the agriculture sector, nowhere in the country the power is supplied for 24 hours uninterruptedly, said a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.

The farmers in the state are currently getting a nine-hour supply. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had promised 24-hour supply in 2014 elections.

Transco, Genco and power distribution companies spent Rs 12,610 crore to strengthen the distribution and supply systems.

Authorities supplied 24-hour electricity in three districts on experimental basis since June 17. Round-the-clock supply to all the pump sets in the state was implemented on pilot basis from November 6 to November 20.

To supply 24-hour power to more than 23 lakh pump sets additionally, there will be a demand for an additional 1500-2000 megawatt and the electricity organisations have made arrangements accordingly.

When Telangana state was formed in June 2014, the captive generation capacity was 6,574 MWs and there was a deficit of 2,700 MWs. However, five months later, the government lifted all power cuts and ensured 24-hour supply to the domestic, industrial and commercial sectors.

The state procured an additional 8,271 MWs in the last three and half years.

Telangana today has 14,845 MWs of captive power generation while new plants are being set up to add an additional 13,000 MWs in future. By 2022, 28,000 MWs of power will be available in the state.

The Chief Minister has expressed happiness over Telangana overcoming all the problems in power sector and setting a record of being the only state in the country to supply 24-hour electricity to the farm sector.