Karnataka bans sale of power by private power producers to others

Karnataka has banned sale of power by private power producers to entities other than the state government as a desperate measure to mitigate the power crisis, which is worsening with each passing day.

With this measure, the government hopes to tap about 800 MW of extra power, less than a 10^th of the peak shortage.

The government has invoked Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003, which empowers the state to issue directions to power producers to operate in accordance with its directions.


Chief Minister Siddaramaiah chaired a meeting of top officials of power utilities on Friday to review the current power situation and to plan the way forward after the Congress regime came under sustained attack by the Opposition BJP and JDS over the erratic power supply in rural areas.

The CM, in a chat with the media, said Karnataka was reeling under an unprecedented crisis because generation has slipped while demand has soared. While the peak load for the state in October last year was between 9000 MW and 10,000 MW, this month it has peaked to 16,000 MW.

The CM directed the Escoms to ensure the farm sector got five hours of power supply every day, and asked officials to cut distribution losses currently estimated at 13%. Power theft, he said, had come down because of Gruha Jyothi scheme.

With the failure of monsoon, the demand for power has increased in the agriculture sector with farmers relying on irrigation pump sets to pump groundwater. This has led to a jump in the peak demand by about 50%, the officials informed the CM at the review meeting.

The daily energy consumption too has gone up from 180 million units (Mus), last year, to 260 Mus this year. With the fall of hydel generation due to poor storage in reservoirs and fall in the availability of wind energy, Karnataka was staring at a power shortage of 10,000 MW, the officials explained.