LUCKNOW: Having taken sharp criticism from various quarters on the dismal power front, the Akhilesh Yadav government is all set to open its door to purchase of power from the open market. The UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) would soon, for the first time, invite bids from open market to procure 700MW power to be wheeled into the state grid.
The move comes in the wake of low generation from Central as well as state-owned power plant, ostensibly because of the coal crisis. The crisis has been accentuated further by repeated snags in power plants that threaten to dip power generation significantly.
UPPCL managing director A P Mishra confirmed that the corporation would select most suitable bidder to supply power at the lowest rate. Mishra said power generation from Centrally owned units has dipped to over 2000MW because of coal shortage. This was besides the repeated tripping of power plants in the state sector. "The crisis has been rising alarmingly for the state and there appears no other option but to go in for buying power from open market," he said.
The state government, significantly, has also decided to turn to the open market route from October 2016, which is a month ahead of the next assembly elections due in 2017. Sources said the state government would be purchasing around 1500MW of power from the open market for a period of three years.
Mishra said the aim was to provide 18 hours power supply to rural areas and 24 hours to urban areas. Presently, rural areas are subjected to heavy rostering that often gets prolonged to over 20 hours. Likewise, major towns like Lucknow, Noida, Ghaziabad and Agra are also subjected to rostering in the wake of power shortage.
Purchase of power from open market comes close on the heels of heavy buying of power from the energy exchange. In fact, UPPCL has been buying around an average of 30 million units of power from the energy exchange for the past few days.
The move comes in the wake of low generation from Central as well as state-owned power plant, ostensibly because of the coal crisis. The crisis has been accentuated further by repeated snags in power plants that threaten to dip power generation significantly.
UPPCL managing director A P Mishra confirmed that the corporation would select most suitable bidder to supply power at the lowest rate. Mishra said power generation from Centrally owned units has dipped to over 2000MW because of coal shortage. This was besides the repeated tripping of power plants in the state sector. "The crisis has been rising alarmingly for the state and there appears no other option but to go in for buying power from open market," he said.
The state government, significantly, has also decided to turn to the open market route from October 2016, which is a month ahead of the next assembly elections due in 2017. Sources said the state government would be purchasing around 1500MW of power from the open market for a period of three years.
Mishra said the aim was to provide 18 hours power supply to rural areas and 24 hours to urban areas. Presently, rural areas are subjected to heavy rostering that often gets prolonged to over 20 hours. Likewise, major towns like Lucknow, Noida, Ghaziabad and Agra are also subjected to rostering in the wake of power shortage.
Purchase of power from open market comes close on the heels of heavy buying of power from the energy exchange. In fact, UPPCL has been buying around an average of 30 million units of power from the energy exchange for the past few days.
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