Cabinet approval for national power grid soon
The Centre has proposed to set up a national grid envisaging a total investment of Rs 80,000 crore. The proposal is likely to get the approval very soon, according to Union minister of power Suresh P Prabhu.
Inaugurating a foundation stone laying ceremony for the 400 kv Ramagundam transmission system stage III of PowerGrid Corporation of India (PGCIL), he said that the investment in power sector must be commercially viable and ruled out free power for any type of consumer.
The minister said PGCIL has invested close to Rs 390 crore in the Ramagundem III transmission system, stretching about 1,150 km covering the southern region-I. The funding pattern for this project is through the Asian Development Bank loan and the transmission system would connnect Ramagundem to Hyderabad (400 kv d/c), Hyderabad to Kurnool (400 kv s/c), Kurnool to Gooty (400 kv s/c), Gooty to Nelamangala (400 kv s/c) and Khammam to Nagarjuna sagar (400 kv s/c), he said.
Speaking at the inauguration, State Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that the beneficiaries through this transmission system include Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry besides Andhra Pradesh. The whole project is scheduled to commission by 2004 but is expected to start much before the schedule, Mr Naidu said.
The salient feature of the project includes a 400 kv transmission line from Ramagundem up to Bangalore via Hyderabad, Kurnool and Gooty. This would strengthen the existing trunk transmission corridor between Ramagundem and Bangalore/Chennai by providing alternate path.
The system would enable import from western region through 1,000 MW Chandrapur HVDC back-to backline, Mr Naidu added.
To meet the demand of about 4,800 kv for the state, the state government pays about Rs 648 crore to NTPC and Rs 287 crore to BSES for both transmission and distribution, Mr Naidu added.
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