Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited achieved a major milestone by supplying 23,419 megawatt of electricity, the highest ever, for four days in a row.
The record electricity supply was 7,000 megawatt more than the maximum demand recorded three years back.
UP Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma said here on Sunday that rise of 7000 MW of power demand in the state testified the development and growth witnessed in the state during the three-and-half-year rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The minister congratulated the UPPCL management, workers and engineers for the feat during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sharma said that the record supply of power also fulfilled Prime minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat dream as the power consumers were getting uninterrupted power.
According to the UPPCL, on July 16, the power utility supplied 22,989 MW of power in the state and on July 18, the supply reached its peak of 23,419 MW.
In March 2017, when the BJP came to power in UP, the total demand in the state was just 16,000 MW and hence during the past three-and-half year, the demand for electricity has increased by 54 per cent which has been met by the UPPCL.
As per the supply records of the UPPCL, during this high demand period, rural feeders were supplied power for 17 hours and 57 minutes on an average daily, in tehsil, the supply was for 21 hours and 30 minutes and in districts it was for 24 hours. Bundelkhand was given 20-hour power daily while the industry got 24-hour supply.
The minister said that under Saubhagya scheme, 1.24 crore poor consumers were given free electricity connections during the past three years, covering 1.30 lakh villages and helmets with electricity. He said at present there are 2.89 crore power consumers in the state.
The previous government had on average given just 6.5 lakh new connections and covered 14,000 villagers every year in the past 10 years. Giving details of the three-and-half year achievements of the UP government, Sharma said the transmission capacity had been increased to 24,500 MW from 8,000 MW while import capacity had increased from 8,700 MW to 13,500 MW.
Besides, 92 new transmission sub-stations were constructed, including 587 sub-stations of 33/11 KV capacity, while the capacity of 1,091 sub-stations were enhanced.
The minister said that besides supplying adequate power, the government also ensured cheap electricity.
The previous government had gone for power purchase from private power generators at the state between Rs 5.14 per unit to Rs 11.09 per unit while during the BJP government the power was purchased at the rate ranging from Rs 2.98 per unit and Rs 4.19 per unit, he said.
“The farmers were being given electricity at the state of Rs 1.10 per unit for irrigation purpose during the daytime. We have asked the department to maintain fewer than 15 per cent line loss in all feeders so that they can be supplied 24-hour power,” Sharma said.
