New Delhi: Days after former Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy claimed that the Congress government in the state had created an “artificial shortage” of power, the latter sought to address the allegation Thursday.
At a press conference in the national capital, Karnataka Energy Minister K. J. George, who was accompanied by Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta, said the allegation was “far from the truth” and that the government is “making all attempts to meet the unprecedented and unexpected demand of power”.
He added that the demand has gone up while installed capacity remained largely the same in the last four years, accusing the previous BJP government of not adding to power infrastructure.
The “root cause of the problem in meeting the current excess power demand”, George said, was that since 2018, neither was the installed capacity augmented, nor were any new power purchase agreements signed with ESCOMs (Electricity Supply Companies).
Gupta said that poor monsoon had forced farmers to depend on irrigation pumpsets for water.
“Due to the lack of monsoon this year, electricity demand of irrigation pump sets increased by 100 percent and of all other categories of consumers has increased by 25 percent. The energy demand has gone up to 270-280 MU (Mega Unit) per day compared to 150-160 MU previous year at the same time. The current demand of the state is being efficiently managed with the available power,” said George.
The installed generation capacity in the state is 32,000 Mega Watt (MW) of which ESCOMs generate only 26,000 MW while the remaining 6,000 MW is generated by private entities, the minister said. He said the state has also invoked a provision of Section 11 of the State Electricity Act, 2003, which calls on the state-based generators to provide power to ESCOMs.
Among the steps being taken to meet the demand, the minister said, was purchasing power from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
On 21 October, Kumaraswamy had alleged that although there is ample scope for power generation from various sources in the state, the Congress government was creating an “artificial shortage” to be able to purchase power from private companies.
Addressing the allegation that electricity is being purchased to make a profit, the government claimed transparency in the process, emphasising that purchases on behalf of ESCOMs are estimated by the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) and carried out through the Power Company of Karnataka Limited (PCKL).
The minister added that availability of electricity in power exchanges was limited as all states across the country were purchasing power to meet the demand, given the poor monsoons.
A significant chunk of Karnataka’s power is generated from renewable sources which, in turn, are prone to weather changes. For instance, the installed hydro power capacity is 3,798 MW in the state.
“As the water level in the reservoirs is less than 50 percent due to poor monsoons, and since hydro needs to be conserved for ensuing summer, hydro plants are operated at around 1300-1400MW daily during peak hours,” the power department said in a statement Thursday.
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Complying with Centre’s direction
Kumaraswamy had also alleged that since it came to power earlier this year, the Congress government could have stockpiled enough coal. Instead, he said, the government neglected power generation with the “malicious intention” of getting commission on power purchases from private companies.
In response to his allegation of money laundering in the purchase of imported coal, the minister said the central government has directed a mandatory blending of imported and indigenous coal to enhance the efficiency of thermal units.
“This process is expected to increase electricity generation without significantly increasing power costs. The tender process for purchasing imported coal was transparent and compliant with the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act,” George said.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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