Assam Cabinet will make a tangible decision: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Power shortage and outage in state

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The State Cabinet will take a decision on how to solve the current power shortage and outage in the state amidst the sweltering heat.

Speaking to the media today, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “The peak hour power demand in the state now is around 2,500 MW. We get 1,650 MW from different power companies that we have tie-ups with. We need to bridge this gap. If we procure power from the open market, we need to buy it at a rate of Rs. 10 per unit, i.e., Rs. 6 crore daily. For this, APDCL (Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd.) will have to hike the power tariff to meet the additional power cost.”

The Chief Minister further said, “We are left with two options: either we need to tell the APDCL to procure power from the open market and hike the power tariff, or we need to request the public to bear with us for the outage of power for some shorter periods daily. The Cabinet meeting slated for September 8 will do something tangible on this front. We don’t want any hikes in the power tariff. At the same time, we also don’t want load-shedding, and hence we need to find something tangible between these two extremes.”

The Chief Minister said, “For various reasons, the peak hour power demand in the state this year is 2,500 MW compared to 1,800 MW last year. We are examining why the power demand increased to such an extent. If this pace of increase in power demand continues, by 2026, our demand will be around 4,000 MW. Our domestic power production is too meagre. Hence, we have signed MoUs with different power generation companies. However, getting power from them will take around two years.”

According to official sources, the maximum gross power demand for the APDCL this year was on September 4. It was 2540.42 MW that broke the record power of 2534.58 MW on August 17. On the other hand, the maximum power demand that the APDCL could meet so far this year was 2390.1 MW on July 31. The shortfall of power in the state now is 600–910 MW daily. Guwahati alone has a demand of 430 MW but gets only 360 MW now.

According to official sources, APDCL gets 281 MW of power in peak hours and 265 MW in off-peak hours from APGCL, which has the capacity to generate 420 MW.

From the power companies of the Northeast, including NEEPCO, the APDCL gets 1093 MW during peak hours and 987 MW during off-peak hours. From NTPC, it gets 132 MW during peak hours and 129 MW during off-peak hours.

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