HYDERABAD: The state government said it had spent Rs 36,890 crore in eight years to provide free power to farmers and another Rs 37,099 crore to strengthen the distribution network to ensure quality and uninterrupted power supply to all sectors.
The government released a report on the power sector which said free power had contributed to increased agriculture activity and production. An increase was noticed in agriculture pump sets, with more farmers utilising free power.
"At the time of formation of Telangana state in June 2014, it was difficult to supply power even for three hours during the day and three hours at night. Due to the special focus laid by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on the power sector, the power shortage issue was resolved within six months. Now, Telangana is the only state in the country to provide 24x7 quality power to all sectors," the report noted.
The report stated that Telangana is the only state that provides free power to agriculture 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "Since 2017, 7.93 lakh new agricultural connections have been added. The subsidy amount has now increased to Rs 36,890 crore in eight years," it noted. Farmers are using 26.96 agri connections using 24x7 free power, which was started on January 1, 2018.
Since 2014, discoms (distribution companies) have established 17 400kv sub-stations, 200kv sub-stations totalling 48, 132 kv sub-stations numbering 72, 137 EHT sub-stations, 11,107 CMK EHT lines, and 33/11 kv sub-stations numbering 1,038 in addition to 3.65 lakh DTRs to improve distribution network. This enabled the state to meet even peak power demand of 14,160 MW without power disruptions, the report noted.
The report also stated that Telangana stood No. 1 in the country in per capita power consumption (PCPC). The state’s PCPC increased from 1,110 units in 2014 to 2,012 units in 2021 which is 73 per cent higher than the national PCPC, which reflects the progress of the state in the last eight years, it added. Telangana also witnessed the lowest transmission losses of 2.47 per cent and transmission availability of 99.98 per cent.
