Principal Secretary of Industries, Commerce and Energy Arvind Kumar has said the State government was committed to provide uninterrupted quality power to all households, industries, commercial establishments and nine-hour power supply to agriculture in the State.
Speaking at the power plant summit at the HICC on Monday, he said that the government has so far invested around Rs 2,550 crores during the last two years towards laying new transmission lines of which Rs 1,145 crores has already been spent and works relating to Rs 1,450 crores are in various stages of completion. He said the State would achieve self-sufficiency in power sector in the next three years. It has been proposed to add 6000 MW by State power utilities such as TSGENCO and Singareni. Manuguru (1080MW), Damarcherla (4000 MW) and Singareni (800MW) thermal power plants would be commissioned over the next two years. Another 4000 MW power would be available through NTPC as mandated by the AP Reorganization Act.
Giving an overview of the energy demand over the next couple of years, he said a detailed analysis for the power requirement has been done by the State. He said 5000 MW of power would be required for the Lift Irrigation schemes, the Hyderabad Pharma City would require 800 MW power, while the NIMZ at Medak would require around 1000 MW power. Kumar said the government was keen on promoting renewable energy in the State, particularly by harnessing the solar potential. Towards this end, an investor-friendly solar policy has been announced.
A wind policy has also been formulated and will be ready within next three months, he added. The government is also encouraging solar roof top net metering systems to reduce the pressure on grid supply. The government is also planning to set up a green hub incubation center for encouraging budding entrepreneurs in green technology at EPTRI, Hyderabad, Kumar added. Sankar Bandhopadhyay, Satya Kumar, and K S Venkata Giri spoke on the occasion. (NSS)