Dispur moves Centre for 300-MW additional power

GUWAHATI: The state government has requested Union Power Minister RK Singh to ensure an additional 300 MW of power for Assam to tide over the current power shortage in the state. And the Union Power Minister assured the state government that he would consider its plea.

Chief Minister Himnata Biswa Sarma met the Union Power Minister in New Delhi today and made him aware of the power scenario in the state. The Chief Minister said, "Assam is facing a power crisis due to an unprecedented 26 percent rise in power demand due to the growth of the production sector of the economy."

The power demand in the state has maintained a `rising trend for the past few years due to an increase in the number of domestic and commercial power consumers. The state had 2,81,544 commercial power consumers in 2019-20, and the number increased to 3,49,599 in 2021-22. Likewise, the number of domestic power consumers was 54,79,471 lakh in 2019-20 and 64,50,361 in 2021-22. However, to meet this increased power consumption due to the increase in the number of consumers, the state does not have any extra generation of power. For instance, in 2021-22, the installed capacity of APGCL was 422 MW, but the actual generation was only 2004 million units.

According to sources, domestic consumers consumed the maximum power, which was around 55 percent of the total consumption in 2021-22; the consumption by the industrial sector was 14.47 percent; and the commercial consumption was 12.81 percent. Transmission and commercial losses are always there. In 2021-22, transmission and commercial losses were 16.11 percent. According to sources, the wastage of power at the stage of transmission is a matter of concern in a state like Assam, which has a serious shortage of its own power generation, though the state has made efforts to mitigate the loss.

According to sources, if the Centre does not provide us with an additional 300 MW of power, it will be a tough situation for the state government to manage the crisis. Electricity consumption is one of the most important indices that reflect the development level of a state. Assam witnesses increased private investment in the state, and if the State government cannot provide them with the required power, industrial growth in the state will suffer a setback. Since the state has limited scope for power generation, it has adopted the policy of tying up with the power companies of other states.

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