Dark days ahead in electricity-scarce Karnataka

With daily power consumption in Karnataka expected to reach an all-time high of 140 million units per day during March 2007, up from the existing 119 million units, the Government will have to make the hard choice of imposing power cuts or purchase power from neighbouring states by incurring an expenditure of Rs 2 billion every month.

The Karnataka Cabinet, which met here recently, has taken a serious note of the bleak power supply scenario in the State, and decided to draw up contingency measures to overcome the impending crisis.

According to Government officials, the daily consumption of power, which stood at 119 million units per day presently, is estimated to reach 132 million units during January and peak to a staggering 140 million by March, creating a shortfall of more than 21 million units.

Karnataka’s power generation capacity, including its share from central grid and the contracted supply from independent power producers, barely accounted for 120 million units per day.

Though shortage of power supply during summer is a regular feature in the State, the situation has assumed serious proportions this time in view of the unprecedented increase in consumption. The highest recorded consumption of power during summer has been only 127 million units so far.

With several parts of the State already facing unscheduled power cuts, the Government’s effort to procure power from neighbouring states has not yielded so far. For, almost all the southern state except for Kerala have reported a huge shortage of power in their respective states.

The invitation of tenders for short-duration power supply from independent producers gave the Government a “shock treatment” as the suppliers quoted a price of Rs 6.25 per unit against the average price of around Rs 3. “Hence, paying an additional of Rs 2 billion will have a serious impact on the finances of the State”, a Government official said.

But, Karnataka’s Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Basavaraj Horatti, who was present at the Cabinet meeting, which discussed the power situation in Karnataka, said the Government was in favour of purchasing power from Kerala. However, the Cabinet has authorized a sub-committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to take a final decision on whether the State should purchase power or enforce power cuts.