AP Transco to give 1.5 l new power connections to agri pump sets

Courtesy: HIndu Business Line
Hyderabad, Oct. 10

AP Transco, the power distribution utility of Andhra Pradesh, will give 1.5 lakh new power connections to agricultural pump sets in 2010-11. These connections would supply power free to farmers.

With the State receiving good rains this monsoon, Mr K. Rosaiah, Chief Minister, has asked the officials of AP Transco to strengthen connectivity in rural areas keeping in mind the upcoming rabi season, when farmers would need power to draw water. The State has targeted to cover one crore acres in the rabi season.

He asked the officials to provide the new connections by March 2011, from when the demand for power increases significantly.

The officials informed him that the utility had prepared an action plan to ensure reliable power supply, because generation has improved significantly as reservoirs received good inflows in the last few weeks, a Government release said here on Sunday.

The Chief Minister held a review meeting on Sunday with Mr S. V. Prasad, Chief Secretary, Mr Suthirtha Bhattacharya (Principal Secretary, Energy), and Mr Ajay Jain, Chairman and Managing Director of AP Transco, on the power situation in the State.

The Transco officials said that the State could reduce transmission losses to 18.51 per cent in 2009-10, one of the lowest in the country. “We have reduced the transmission losses by almost 50 per cent from 35 per cent in 2000-01. We could achieve this after implementation of technologies, monitoring systems, and continuous regulation of operations of distribution companies,” they said.

The Transco had also taken up an initiative to set up 21 220-kV and ten 132-kV substations at a total cost of Rs 1,155 crore for various lift irrigation schemes being executed by the Irrigation Department.