Siddaramaiah promises 7-hour power supply for farmers in Karnataka

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Monday decided to provide electricity for seven hours every day for farmers.

The decision was taken at the Energy Department review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. "The state may require additional Rs 1,500 crores for this purpose. This expenditure will be met by savings in grants and reallocation of funds," Siddaramaiah said.

Steps are being taken to provide power supply to IP sets from solar power sources (Solarisation of EIP Feeders) during next year. The tender process is in progress and by next year, this will facilitate to provide electricity to farmers during the daytime, stated CM Siddaramaiah.

Compared to the year 2022, average electricity demand in 2023 has increased by 43 per cent. 15,978 MW demand was recorded in the month of October. Electricity consumption has increased to 45 per cent than last year, he said.

“The agricultural usage has gone up to 119 per cent from 55 per cent. Percentage of usage has increased from 9 to 14 per cent in other sectors. This increase is due to lack of rain, early usage of IP sets and economic recovery post Covid-19. Production of Raichur and Bellary thermal power plants has increased since the last progress review meeting. Electricity is being procured from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh,” Siddaramaiah stated.

“Under Section 11, orders are issued not to supply electricity to other states, and electricity is being procured. In this way, the power distribution has come back to normal. Nodal officials are constantly monitoring the situation.

Farmers coming under purview of various power supply companies, are provided continuous power supply for five to seven hours according to their needs. 600 MW/hr and 14 million units per day are required to provide power to IP sets across the state for a continuous seven hours,” CM Siddaramaiah stated.