Power crisis

Industrial production in Uttarakhand has been badly hit by an acute power shortage, with the steel industry facing the brunt of the supply outages. The 60-odd steel units in the state claimed that they are facing a production loss of Rs 30 crore every day due to the power cuts effected by Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), the sole distribution agency in the hill state.

The owners of the steel industry have met top government officials and submitted a memorandum demanding more power to the industrial units. In the memorandum, D K Agarwal, the President of the steel chapter of the Kumaon-Garhwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI), said the steel industry, which takes only 16.5 percent of the HT load, is getting only 8 hours of supply per day whereas other HT industries are getting 16 hours of power. "You will kindly appreciate that the steel industry is catering to the infrastructure needs of the country. Our industry is supplying goods to sectors like power, the Delhi metro, automobile, sugar, paper and others. Hence, we must get sufficient power to run our industries, otherwise these units will close down if the trend continues," said Agarwal. Uttarakhand, which is considered as a power surplus state, has been facing an average power deficit of 86mu in this season, while Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have been facing acute power shortage which has led to daily power cut of over 10 hours in each state, a study has said. Of the total 8,980 million unit (mu) power deficit in the country, Maharashtra and UP have been facing deficit of 2,609 mu and 1,351mu, respectively, in this summer, Assocham secretary general DS Rawat said in a statement. The average power demand in Maharashtra is estimated at 12,132mu against the availability of 9,523mu, it said.

In UP, huge difference between power demand and supply has led to power cuts of over 10 hours a day, the study said, and pointed out that the situation in the Southern region-- Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry -- is no better, with Andhra facing shortage of The study further said the Northern states like Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi face power deficit of 1mu, 4mu and 19mu, respectively. The survey, however said, Jammu & Kashmir is the only state which faces zero power deficit. The chamber has recommended acceleration in power generation along with harnessing non-conventional energy resources including wind, solar and tidal.