\"Karnataka Govt Overcomes Power Challenges, Ensures 7-Hr Electricity for Agriculture\"
BELAGAVI: Despite the challenges posed by a deficit in rainfall and an upsurge in power demand across the state, the government has successfully navigated the situation by ramping up generation in thermal power plants and procuring additional power from external sources.
Responding to questions raised by MLAs during Thursday's session, Power Minister KJ George said that the state is currently providing 7 hours of electricity for agriculture.
"The state's agriculture sector is currently receiving a seven-hour electricity supply. This year, reduced rainfall has resulted in a decline in electricity generated from water bodies. Simultaneously, the state has witnessed a surge in power demand, escalating from 8000 MW to 16,500 MW, creating a power shortage," he said.
"To address this, power has been procured through external contracts, and the state's thermal power plants have increased their output. As a result, the state currently faces no power shortage, with an excess of available power surpassing the current demand," the Minister said.
Minister George outlined the government's commitment to supporting farmers by providing infrastructure for the pump sets of 4 lakh farmers in the state.
"Within a 500-meter radius, power supply companies will facilitate infrastructure. For those situated beyond 500 meters, a 30 percent subsidy from the Central Government and a 50 percent subsidy from the State Government will support the installation of solar pump sets," he added.
There was a regulation stipulating that farmers themselves were responsible for the infrastructure of IP sets registered after September 22, 2023. The Minister said that a proposal has been submitted to the cabinet to amend this rule and have the government provide the necessary infrastructure.
Highlighting past efforts, Minister George highlighted previous instances of pump set regularization, citing decisions made in 2004 under the tenure of HD Revanna and in 2008 during Shobha Karandlaje's term as power ministers, where the government regularized 60 thousand and 1.50 lakh agricultural pump sets, respectively.
He added that the commitment to continue regularizing such pump sets persists.
With regard to power transformers, Minister George clarified that there is no shortage in the state, and damaged transformers are being replaced according to schedule. However, he acknowledged that some transformers face frequent damage due to exceeding their capacity.
