BENGALURU: Karnataka may face power crisis in the coming months, but Bengaluru will not suffer.
Energy Minister D K Shivakumar told reporters on Saturday, “With the drought being severe, it will be a challenge this time to supply power until summer. There has been a sudden spurt in the demand in the last several days. We are purchasing power daily on the market for around 700 MW as the supply from the central grid has not been good because they are facing problems. There is a 1,000 MW gap between demand and supply,” he said.
He, however, made it clear that Bengaluru would not face any power cuts in the near future. “Bengaluru is not just the capital of the state, but is one of the prominent faces of India globally. The city is not just awake during the day, but also during the night because of the IT/ITes industry. The demand has suddenly increased, but Bengaluru will not suffer. About 39 per cent of the revenue comes from the IT/ITes industry. We will make sure there is good power supply,” he said.
He said they were constantly looking at ways to improve power generation and one of the new proposals by Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) was of pump storage.
This method would allow them to reuse the water that was used to generate electricity at hydel plants. “It is already in use in some parts of the country. We are seriously exploring this option,” he said.
LED bulbs are also being promoted with the government planning to reduce the rates of the bulbs from the present `70 to `50 for a 9 watt bulb. LED tubelights are also going to be circulated at a reduced price of `250. A new policy on LED bulbs is also expected shortly.
Pat for Surya Raitha project
A pilot project being implemented in Kanakapura has drawn the attention and appreciation of many, where farmers who have been supplied solar irrigation pumpsets are being encouraged to sell back power to the government. Explaining the idea, Shivakumar said that farmers using these sets used them for a maximum of 150 days a year.
“They use it for cultivation only for about 150 days a year and another 50 days there is not enough power. So the farmers can send the power to the grid for the remaining 150 days a year and make money by selling it to the government. A farmer might be able to earn between `3,000 and `5,000 a year,” he said.