A delegation of Karnataka Members of Parliament led by the Union Ministes Ananth Kumar, D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Prahlad Joshi, MP (LS) met the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal in New Delhi today (Feb 26) regarding the Karnataka power crisis. The delegation impressed upon the Power Minister that the electricity situation in Karnataka is very bad and farmers are getting power only for two to three hours in a day. They sought immediate intervention of the Union Power Minister to resolve the crisis. They informed that due to poor rainfall in the last season, the production of power through hydel projects has been badly affected.In response to the plea of the Karnataka delegation, Piyush Goyal informed that the Government is working on the concept of the One Nation, One Grid, One Rate. He said that there is no shortage of coal in any of the thermal plant. Piyush Goyal said that the transmission capacity in Southern India has gone by 70% in the last two years, and it will go up by further 80% in next 18 months.
After deliberations with his Ministry’s officials and considering the severity of power situation in Karnataka, Shri Goyal announced immediate release of 319 MW of power to the State up to March, 2016. The situation will be further reviewed in April, 2016.
The Karnataka delegation thanked the Union Power Minister for prompt response in providing relief to the citizens of Karnataka.
