Patna, Oct. 8: Bihar energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav today shot off a letter to his central counterpart, Veerappa Moily, requesting the Union government to allocate power to the state from the unallocated quota.

“Bihar is entirely dependent on power allocation from the central sector generating units because the state’s own generation is almost negligible,” Yadav said in the letter.

“Against Bihar’s average demand of 2,300MW, the central allocation is 1,833MW. However, the availability has been consistently less than 1,000MW. This has aggravated the power shortage scenario. Within this inadequate availability, Bihar has to meet essential requirements of railway, defence, airport and other vital establishments,” the letter stated.

Elaborating on the issue, Yadav said it has become essential to make power available during the prescribed period for irrigation purposes. “Drinking water supply in towns has suffered because of acute power shortage. With the festival season round the corner, it is important to improve the availability of power,” he added.

“Frequent breakdowns at NTPC units in Farakka and Khalgaon and the Talcher super thermal power station, compounded by less generation at the hydel units in Chukha, Tala, Teesta and Rangeet have worsened the situation. Lesser power availability is posing serious threat to industrial growth and agricultural production,” the letter read.

The minister requested the Centre to ask NTPC and NHPC to step up generation and improve availability, particularly in Bihar, to combat the perennial power crisis.