AP Energy Secretary Ajay Jain said that the government had ensured zero power cuts since November 2014, and that the state had moved to a surplus situation.
Energy Secretary Ajay Jain claimed that Andhra Pradesh was now a power surplus state.
Addressing the conference on A3: Availability, Accessibility and Affordability of Power in India organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Wednesday, Jain said that the state government had ensured zero power cuts since November 2014, and that the state had moved from a deficit to a surplus situation.
"We are now at par with states like Gujarat and Chhattisgarh as far as availability is concerned. We have also built in a spinning reserve of 5%," he said, also informing that AP was one of the three states chosen to be part of the "Power For All" program.
Discussing the State's plan to achieve accessibility and affordability of power, he said, "Currently in Andhra Pradesh, there are 5 lakh households without power, and some industrial (600 MW) and agricultural connections (60,000) are pending. Our target is to ensure that by March 2016, all households are electrified, and industrial and agricultural (linked to ground water) connections are completed. The energy department is also prioritizing the goal of providing cost effective and affordable power to the consumers. We are adopting several measures including improvement in efficiency, reduction in losses and improvements in PLF efficiency. We will also try not to increase the tariffs, and are even exploring the possibility of reducing tariff for certain consumer categories."
Emphasizing on the focus on renewables in Andhra Pradesh, Jain said, "The state has also released its solar and wind policies, and is targeting 5,000 MW of solar and 4,000 MW of wind power by 2018-19. PPAs have been signed for 619 MW across 19 solar projects, and the lowest first year tariff of Rs 5.25 / unit was discovered. A single window clearance mechanism has been set up to ensure rapid commissioning of solar projects. We are also encouraging manufacturing. Suzlon has recently signed an agreement, and several solar manufacturing companies have expressed interest in setting up base in Andhra Pradesh."
Talking about the initiatives the state was taking on the demand side, he said, "Andhra Pradesh is a pioneer in energy efficiency. We have replaced over 41 lakh incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs in three districts in the state recording a saving of 22% in Vishakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Sullurpeta leading to a saving of 44%. Finally we are also in the process of replacing inefficient pump-sets with efficient pumps, and are undertaking feeder segregation for this." (INN)