Despite record demand, UP getting adequate electricity: Power min

LUCKNOW: The power demand in Uttar Pradesh soared to 25032 MW on the intervening night of July-16-17 breaking all previous records. The highest demand, prior to this, was recorded at 24926 MW on June 30.

Energy minister Shrikant Sharma said on Saturday that the UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) had been supplying 24,000 MW power or more to meet the increased demand for last one month.

“This is because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies and successful execution of those policies by chief minister Yogi Adityanath that the state is getting adequate electricity as per the roster despite a record demand,” he said.

He said the power demand had increased by 9,000 MW during last three and half years and an increased demand, he said, showed that the state was progressing. “The maximum demand was recorded to be only 16,000 MW in 2016-17,” he added.

The minister said managing directors of all the discoms had been directed to ensure night patrolling and quick rectification of local faults to provide uninterrupted power to people. He claimed there was no shortage of electricity in the state.

He said the transmission capacity was up from 16,348 MW in 2016-17 to 26,000 MW now and it would reach 32,400 MW by 2025. He said the government spent Rs 12,111.75 crore to build new transmission and distribution sub-stations of various capacities.

The minister further said that all the power generating plants in the state together produce 26,937 MW power every day which is 4000 MW more than what the production used to be four years ago. He said UP will generate 34,500 MW power by 2022.