Chief Minister grants funds to buy 980 MW power

HYDERABAD: Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday gave his nod for releasing Rs 350 crore to purchase 980 MW of power from different power stations during October. The decision has been taken to meet the production short fall caused by the ongoing strike coupled with increasing demand for the Dasara-Deepavali festive season.The officials have been asked to ensure that crops do not wither away in any part of the State.It is learnt that the chief minister also called up the Prime Minister’s Office requesting allocation of an additional 500 MW unallocated from the Central Generation Stations (CGS) to the State.The central government is already supplying about 185 MW additional power from the CGS of the Southern Region. He reportedly urged the Prime Minister’s principal secretary Pulok Chatterjee to divert 1.3 MMSCMD of gas of GMR Vemagiri, which has been shut since September 17, to other gas-based projects to generate an additional 350 MW.He also requested for additional allocation of two lakh tonnes of coal from Western Coal Fields to APGenco.Even amidst the present crisis, 225 million units are being supplied every day from different sources, including 17 MU purchased from outside and 120 MU drawn from the Central grid.Kiran Kumar Reddy told officials to impose more power cuts in urban areas if necessary and ensure that crops are not withered away at any cost.More hired busesIt has been decided to hire at least 1,000 more contract and private buses to ply on the roads immediately for the convenience of common people in view of the festive season.The RTC is already operating 500 buses in the city and another 650 contract and private buses are being operated from Hyderabad to Bangalore, Nagpur, Pune, Chennai, Mumbai, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.Meanwhile, officials are gearing up for the launch of Re 1-a-kg rice scheme on November 1 marking the Andhra Pradesh Formation Day.The chief minister told the Civil Supplies department to stock up subsidised rice for November and December in all ration shops in time to be distributed at Re 1 a kg to white card holders.