Government committed to 7-hour power supply for agriculture: Minister

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Energy Minister K.J. George reaffirmed the government's commitment to providing seven hours of three-phase electricity for agricultural pump sets and 24-hour power for households and industries. He assured that despite rising demand, Karnataka is well-prepared to meet power requirements.

At a review meeting with public representatives and officials at the Davangere Zilla Panchayat Hall, the minister stated that there is no power shortage in the state. While there are no planned load-shedding measures, he acknowledged that certain areas experience outages due to technical maintenance issues. Officials have been directed to ensure a stable and uninterrupted power. The power demand currently stands at 18,500 MW, with an expected 10% increase during summer. To address this, Karnataka is procuring electricity from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh through an exchange arrangement. The state will return the borrowed power when demand reduces in June. Minister George assured that necessary grid arrangements have been made to facilitate this exchange.

The KUSUM-C scheme aims to generate 3,000 MW of power through feeder solarisation within 18 months. Work orders have been issued for solar panel installation, power generation, and land levelling. By April 2025, 300 MW of solar energy is expected to be fed into the grid. Under the Gruha Jyothi scheme, 4.33 lakh electricity connections in Davangere are benefitting from free electricity. The government has provided Rs 309 crore worth of power to registered consumers between August 2023 and December 2024.