KCR Promises 24-Hour Power To Farmers From Jan 1

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao today said that his government was ready to supply 24-hour uninterrupted power supply to the agriculture sector from January 1.

The supply to the sector would be increased from the 9 hours given previously.

The Chief Minister expressed hope that this would make farmers stop using power starters and avail themselves of power directly.

The CM held a review meeting with officials at Pragathi Bhavan in this regard, where he was informed that in keeping with his directives the officials had made arrangements to supply 24-hour power to 23 lakh pump sets starting January 1. The 24-hour free power will commence from the midnight of December 31.

The Chief Minister also held a brief discussion with the officials of the TSGENCO, TSTRANSCO and TS discoms on their preparedness. The officials informed the CM that the 24-hour power supply project would cost around Rs 12,610 crores. They also shared that the demand for power would increase to 11,000 MW by March, and arrangements were being made to meet the same. As per the instructions given to them, awareness programs, too, had been taken up for the farmers asking them to remove auto starters as power would be supplied round the clock, they added.

The Chief Minister appreciated the officials and employees for ensuring arrangements in such a short span of time.

He added that at the time of the formation of Telangana state, there was a huge shortage of power that was causing distress to industrialists, uncertainty in the farm sector, and regular cuts in domestic supply, but that the situation had taken a 180 degree turn now. Starting from November 20, 2014, power cuts in the industrial and domestic supply had been stopped, and farmers, too, were getting 9 hours of uninterrupted power supply.

With free 24-hour power now available to farmers starting January 1, the cause of a separate state was slowly being realized, he said.