National

States will attract severe action for grid violations

NEW DELHI: The Union Power Ministry has asked the States not to draw more than their allocated quota from the regional and national power grids, and warned them of severe action if they fail to comply with the directive.

Simultaneously, the Ministry has begun a review of the generating capacity of the public sector National Thermal Power Corporation and National Hydro Power Corporation. It has told them that generation must be increased by at least 10 per cent to meet the growing requirement in the kharif season.

Flooded with complaints from various quarters, including from certain States, of the continued misuse of the grid quota, the Ministry said the States should scout for untapped captive power units and get them connected to the grid. They must also maximise and dispatch all liquid or gas generation.

Minister of State Jairam Ramesh said an advisory was issued to the States which were overdrawing power, asking them to not jeopardise the grid as the ramifications for the country as a whole might be extremely serious.

Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were overdrawing power continuously, the advisory said. The main reasons were higher consumption, lower generation mainly due to insufficient rain, low levels in reservoirs, outages, fuel shortage and delay in commissioning new units.

The utilities must manage the demand with the available power. Otherwise, the government might to resort to cuts or load-shedding, the advisory said.

Keeping in mind the festival season demand, the generating utilities should keep their units in good condition through proper operation and maintenance practices, Mr. Jairam said.

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