Energy Minister Dibyashankar Mishra on Friday claimed that Odisha has now become a power-surplus State.
The Minister stated this in the State Assembly in response to a question of Congress leader Narasingha Mishra.
The Minister said that 27633 million units (MUs) of power are produced in the State, of which 25468 MUs are required
to meet the demands by various categories of consumers.
While 7,073 MUs are used by industries, 7503 MUs are consumed for domestic purposes. Besides, 12,767 MUs are sold to other States, he informed.
He stated that during the last two decades Odisha has witnessed a big jump in the number of power consumers. While there were 19 lakh consumers in year 2000, their present strength has grown to 96 lakh.
The Minister further stated that power infrastructure to the tune of Rs 1,159.41 crore has been destroyed due to Cyclone Fani that caused large-scale devastations at several parts of the State’s coastal belt, especially in Puri district.
It may be noted that the Central Government had last year pointed out that Odisha has achieved 100-per cent rural electrification under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.
As per the official statistics, all the 47,677 census villages in the State have been electrified by the end of May this year.