HYDERABAD : Power demand once again hit the peak in Telangana on Thursday, touching almost 177 million units. The demand, official sources said, was powered by agriculture sector.
The State is facing an acute power shortage of 30-45 million units every day.
The highest power demand of 180 million units was recorded on Oct 14. However, the supply the same day was just about 135 million units - a deficit of 45 million units.
However, on Thursday, the State government was able to supply 145 million units, bringing down the deficit to 31 million units.
The power situation was more or less the same on Friday too. Due to the closure of the NTPC thermal unit (Simhadri) due to the Hudhud cyclone, Telangana has been deprived of about 800 MW.
However, the State government is according top priority to agriculture sector by imposing restrictions on industrial and domestic sectors. The government has drafted plans to purchase power on long-term and medium-term basis, but it will take some time for them to materialise.
The situation in Andhra Pradesh is somewhat better. The maximum power demand recorded in the State this month was 145 million units on Oct 1. The daily power demand is between 130 and 145 million units in AP, as it mostly depends on canal irrigation. Due to non-functioning of NTPC (Simhadri), the State now has a power deficit of around 23 million units. There was no power shortage in AP till Oct 11 - before the cyclone struck.