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Regular-article-logo Sunday, 27 July 2025

Blueprint to fulfil CM power pledge

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SANJEEV KUMAR VERMA Published 09.12.12, 12:00 AM

Patna, Dec. 8: Nitish Kumar has promised to improve the power situation in Bihar by 2015 or else he has vowed not to seek votes from the people. A tough pledge given the dismal situation at present. So how exactly does the power authorities hope to make good the chief minister’s promise?

The energy department says it is working on a plan that would ensure improvement in the power situation by the end of 2014 itself, when the projected demand for electricity is set to touch 3,000MW. According to official figures, the state’s peak demand at present is 2,255MW.

Distribution hurdles

As things stand now, the existing distribution system has many constraints. Though the 501 power sub-stations, spread over 65 divisions, have the capacity to distribute more than 3,000MW of power, the problems in the distribution system do not allow interruption-free supply even when full-load supply is made to any division.

All the 65 divisions, in which the power supply system in the state has been divided, have been asked to prepare a list of constraints on the distribution front and submit the report to the energy department within two months. Those responsible for formulating the report are also supposed to suggest corrective steps that need to be taken keeping future projections in mind and prioritise the work.

“A detailed analysis of the report would be done to find out if the work suggested by divisions can be carried out under existing schemes or not. If need be, the department will launch new schemes to strengthen the distribution system,” energy secretary Sandeep Pondrik told The Telegraph.

Ray of light

The corrective measures would be taken both at the sub-station level and on the distribution transformer front through which power reaches the consumers. At present there are more than 45,000 distribution transformers of different capacities to deliver electricity to consumers.

“Our goal is to have such a system in place by the end of 2014 which would be able to distribute the available power to the last user,” Pondrik said.

The energy department is optimistic about availability of power by the end of 2014. Officials say that going by the pace of work in the upcoming power plants as well as the renovation and expansion of existing ones and the agreement for power purchase from the open market, Bihar would get over 2,000MW of power (see chart) by the end of 2014 which would be in addition to the existing 1,400MW the state gets on an average at present.

A source in the Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited said the state’s peak demand by the end of 2014 would be a little over 3,000MW.

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