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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu wants to make his province "the most happening state". During the four-and-a-half years of his stewardship, he says, the state has moved from 22nd place to the third rank in attracting investments. In the investors' perception, the state is the best bet, he says.

Naidu's efforts to woo the investors, particularly industries from all over India and the world at large, are, however, seriously hampered by the inadequacy of one vital infrastructure area: electricity.

The first thing that Naidu does in the mornings is to switch on his computer to monitor the power situation. He checks the reservoir levels in the hydel stations, the generation levels in the thermal and hydel stations, the purchase of energy from other states, and assesses the qualitative aspects of power supply like the voltage and transmission and distribution losses. He also holds frequent review meetings with the power officials.

This has been a habit with Naidu from the time he ousted and succeeded his father-in-law as chief minister in 1995. Yet, the power situation in the state has only worsened in recent years, rather than showing any signs of improvement. The state has been facing power cuts every summer. Summer 2000 is poised to witness hefty cuts.

Despite the World Bank-inspired power sector reforms, the power sector is in virtual doldrums. "We have undertaken reforms but we don't have adequate power," says V K Srinivasan, director, the Indian Institute of Economics and former bureaucrat. The power scenario, he reckons, is not likely to improve in the coming few years. On the other hand, the power position may deteriorate with burgeoning demand outstripping the supply.

Senior Congress leader and former power minister K Rosaiah says the state would face serious power shortages thanks to the slippages in the implementation of new power projects by the private sector. He blames Naidu for this "sorry state of affairs".

Former minister and NTR's confidant G Muddukrishnama Naidu, who switched over to the Congress after Naidu became CM, has also been running a relentless campaign to expose the chief minister's "hollow claims" on the power front.

A Telugu newspaper close to Naidu could not risk ignoring the grim power scenario under his stewardship. The newspaper says that a four-hour power cut is in force in the state. However, the power officials insist the power cut is only for two hours.

Nobody wants to hazard a guess about the likely scene in Summer 2000. The Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh, which is entrusted with the job of transmission and distribution of power, has indicated that the domestic, commercial and industrial consumers are also likely to face the power cuts if the situation warrants.

The farmers, reeling under the impact of a severe drought due to the failure of the monsoon last season, are upset that the government has failed to keep its promise of providing them with adequate and uninterrupted power supply.

Such criticism irks Naidu. He justifies the power-cuts, saying that though the government warned the farmers in advance to raise only dry crops during rabi, they did not pay heed to the advice and raised wet crops, thereby putting strain on the power sub-stations which tripped under heavy load.

Moreover, the experts warn that the power shortage in the state would turn acute in the next few years if the capacity additions under the private sector do not materialise. Already, there have been prolonged delays in the execution of major projects being put up by the independent power producers such as the Hindujas' Visakhapatnam power project, GVK's Krishnapatnam project, Besicorp-Brooklyn's Krishnapatnam project, BPL's Ramagundam power project, besides half-a-dozen short-gestation projects and 32 mini-power plants.

The industry is resenting the cross-subsidisation of the farm sector through prohibitive tariffs for high-tension consumers and imposition of frequent power-cuts on industry to tide over the power shortage.

The Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry has opposed any further hike in the power tariffs for industries, saying that it would lead to industrial sickness. There is resentment over the restrictions sought by the the Andhra Pradesh Generation Corporation on captive power generation, which turns out cheaper for the industries.

The domestic and commercial consumers are afraid about the impending hike in the power tariffs. In its business plan submitted to the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission, which is constituted as part of the reforms process, the APTransco has sought a steep hike in power tariffs to bridge its mounting deficit.

APTransco is on the verge of financial collapse, with its losses shooting up to Rs 20 billion so far this year, since the government is unable to provide it subsidy for the concessional power supply to the farm sector at the dirt cheap rate of six paise per unit, as against Rs 4 per unit charged for the industrial consumers.

Amidst this gloomy scenario where Andhra Pradesh goes literally power-hungry, the state government has ambitious plans to add 4,948 megawatts to the grid (both under private and public sector) at an estimated cost of Rs 250 billion and augment the transmission and distribution system at an outlay of Rs 75.32 billion in the next five years.

Latest news: power-cuts get longer!

February 19: With the power shortage shooting up to 11 million units a day, the Andhra Pradesh Transmission Corporation has hiked the power-cut in the state to six hours a day from Saturday.

Energy Minister Kothapalli Subbarayudu, however, termed the additional power-cuts as "load relief". He announced that the power-cuts, which hitherto were for four hours all over the state, including parts of Hyderabad served by rural feeders, were being increased by another two hours, in view of the enormous gap of 10 million units a day in the demand and supply of power.

According to the minister, the prevailing demand for power in the state is 142 million units a day, as against the daily availability of 132 million units.

Under the state grid, 58.21 million units are generated by thermal stations and 18.88 million units by hydel stations. The central stations and the joint sector Vijjeswaram gas-based power station together contribute 26.95 million units a day.

The balance 28 million units is purchased from the private sector as well as the eastern grid, Maharashtra and Orissa. The state is also seeking to get power from Gujarat to the extent of 100 megawatts during daytime and 200 megawatts during nights.

A two-hour load-shedding (power-cut) brings down the consumption by four million units a day. With the power-cuts extended to six hours a day, APTransco hopes to curtail the consumption by 12 million units, which is sufficient to attain the balance between the demand and supply.

"Without the enhanced load shedding, APTransco will not be in a position to meet the demand," Subbarayudu said.

The enhanced power-cut of six hours will be effected in three spells, each lasting two hours. However, in view of examinations for students, uninterrupted power supply will be ensured from 4 am to 6 am and from 6 pm to 11 pm.

APTransco claimed that the "needs of every section of consumers are being met by way of rostering of the feeders." The supply areas have been divided into A, B, C and D categories for the power-cut.

The supply timings for the farm sector have also been changed though nine-hour supply will be maintained every day. The state capital has been exempted from the power-cut.

APTransco attributed the load-shedding and other restrictions to depletion of the water level in major reservoirs like Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam and the drought, forcing farmers to use pumpsets for drawal of groundwater from great depths. APTransco is making all-out efforts to meet the demand, which is increasing due to the use of pumpsets for the rabi crops.

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Andhra Pradesh