Andhra CM about hike in Power tariff

Vijayawada, Sept 14: The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu held a review meeting with officials of power sector of the state on Wednesday to discuss the developments and progress in the sector.

He asserted that the government would not take up upward revision of power tariff for both industrial and domestic consumers.He also asked the officials to focus on supplying cheap power rather than increasing tariff. It would also help in tiding over the losses.

At the same time, it was necessary to bring down thermal power generation and purchases, he said, adding, "people come first. Find out ways to overcome the difficulties. I don't want the hike in power tariff under any circumstances."

It was also brought to notice that 15,000 solar pump sets were step up, the highest number in the country. And that 5.9 lakhs of LED street lights were set up in 110 urban areas.

The Chief Minister was further told that arrangements for setting up 40 lakhs LED street lights in rural areas are underway. It was highlighted that Andhra Pradesh has won 26 awards in power sector from 2015-16 to 2016-17.

Earlier, officials told him that the energy sector had witnessed an overall growth of 7.3% compared to last year. The Wind and solar energy contributed 17% and 5% of the total energy produced. Their growth compared to previous years was 154% and 183% respectively. Wind energy has a capacity of 3,765 MW and solar energy has a capacity of 1,994 MW, they said.

The State would get a revenue of Rs. 173 crore through sale of 1,089 million units to the States of Goa, Punjab, Bihar, and Uttarakhand.