Goyal, Akhilesh meet today on power crisis

24X7 POWER State government ready with action plan

LUCKNOW: After having engaged in a prolonged war of words and letters over the unprecedented summer power crisis in Uttar Pradesh, union minister for power and coal Piyush Goyal and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav will finally be meeting here on Saturday to find a solution to the power supply issue.

While prime minister Narendra Modi has often reiterated his government’s commitment to 24x7 power supply to the people of the country, the Akhilesh Yadav government is actually ready with an action plan, which is likely to be shown to Goyal during the meeting on Saturday.

The action plan seeks to achieve the goal of 24-hour power supply to divisional headquarters and cities and bigger cities, 22 hours of power supply to district headquarters and at least 16 hours of power supply everyday to teh sail headquarters and villages—all from October, 2016. The demand for electricity by then is likely to be 21,000 MW and the UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) is hopeful of meeting the entire demand.

“Quite a few new power projects being set up in the public and private sectors will start generation within two years from now enabling us to achieve the goal of supplying round the clock power in cities and 16 hours in villages from October 2016,” claimed a senior official.

The state government’s hope, thus, largely hinges on the probability of the new power plants getting ready on time. But the possibility of around half a dozen proposed plants seeing the light of the day is further linked to the condition of the Centre making required coal available for them. This is why the chief minister is all set to raise the demand for adequate coal supply for the existing as well as the upcoming thermal power plants. “Evidently, the Central and the state governments have no choice but to work together supporting each other’s initiatives if they are serious about their commitment to provide round-the-clock power to the people,” pointed out UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad president Avadhesh Kumar Verma.

QUITE A FEW NEW POWER PROJECTS BEING SET UP IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS WILL START GENERATION WITHIN TWO YEARS ENABLING US TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL OF SUPPLYING 24 HOURS POWER IN CITIES AND 16 HOURS IN VILLAGES FROM OCTOBER 2016 SENIOR OFFICIAL, UPPCL