Telangana to formulate new electricity policy

Hyderabad, Jan 10 (IANS) The Telangana government has decided to bring a new electricity policy, it was announced on Wednesday.  

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said a comprehensive policy will be formulated after a detailed study of the existing power policies of various states and after holding discussion with energy experts and debate in the Assembly. 

At a review meeting on power, he ordered the officials to prepare plans to provide free electricity to the house up to 200 units through the Griha Jyoti scheme which is one of the six guarantees announced during the Assembly elections. 

He also instructed the officials to prepare plans to increase power generation capacity in the government sector, study the possibilities of setting up more power companies, and speed up the works at the new power generation plants which are under construction. 

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramamarka, Ministers N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and D. Sridhar Babu were also present at the meeting. 

The CM asked officials to prevent misuse of electricity and increase the quality of power supply. He also directed them to take strong and proactive measures to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity in the state. He made it clear that the government is committed to fulfil the promise of supplying 24-hour free power supply to the farmers. 

The CM discussed the issues of power consumption, supply of 24 hours uninterrupted power, power generation by the companies, measures for new power generation units, 200 units free power supply under the Griha Jyoti scheme with the officials and the ministers in detail. 

The officials briefed Revanth Reddy about the installed capacity of electricity generation in Telangana, power purchases from various power utilities, regular power consumption, performance of the discoms, and the financial situation. 

The Chief Minister instructed the officials to conduct a comprehensive study and submit a detailed report regarding the agreements entered by the electricity companies and the Electricity Regulatory Council (ERC) since 2014, contents of those agreements, prices for the purchase of power. 

He also asked the officials to furnish the details of year wise agreements entered by the discoms and related information. The officials were also instructed to provide the information about the reasons behind entering agreements by paying excess to the power supply companies. 

The Chief Minister instructed the authorities to purchase the power from the companies which are supplying at low prices in the open market. Revanth Reddy said that difficulties and problems are arising due to the non-formulation of a constructive electricity policy till the date in the state. He asked the officials to visit other states and study the power policies, electricity conditions and the best policies adopted and submit the reports to the government. 

--IANS 

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