VIJAYAWADA: Observing that Andhra Pradesh has one of the lowest aggregate technical and commercial (AT and C) losses in the country, energy secretary Nagulapalli Srikant has said that the government is leaving no stone unturned to provide cost-effective and qualitative power to consumers. He said the State has emerged as the best example for procuring cheap power, which will contribute in industrial, agriculture and economic growth.
Speaking on the occasion of 74th Independence Day celebrations at Vidyut Soudha in Vijayawada on Saturday, the secretary said that the AT and C losses came down to 13.36 per cent in 2019-20 from 16.36 per cent the previous year. He added the efforts were on to further bring it down. He also said that the power distribution companies (discoms) were exploring every possible way to reduce the expenditure on power supply.
“Power purchase cost is being monitored based on each generating unit and Discoms are exploring every possibility of reduction of even single paise per unit. We have already saved Rs 700 crore by purchasing power in the spot market,” he said. He elaborated on the steps taken to achieve, financial prudence, accountability and course control of the activities in power purchase cost.
He revealed that the State government was providing nine-hour day time free power supply to 18.72 lakh agricultural connections through 6,663 feeders across the State. Out of 6,663 feeders, 6,136 (92 per cent) are now capable of supplying 9-hour day time supply with existing infrastructure and the remaining 527 (8 per cent) are under the process of augmentation and would be ready by Rabi season, he explained.
“The power utilities had received unprecedented and substantial financial support from the State government. The government had sanctioned a total amount of around Rs 17,904 crore in 2019-20 towards clearing pending tariff subsidy dues,” he pointed out.