Replying to a question by Ganesh Karnik (BJP), the minister said the second unit of Bellary Thermal Power Station (500 MW) would be commissioned by September, 2011.
The second unit with a capacity 600 MW of Udupi Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL) would be commissioned by July this year. In addition to this, 450 MW from hydel and non-conventional energy sources would be added to the power grid. Karandlaje said an additional 200 MW from the Central grid was also expected by the end of the calendar year.
The State government was committed to providing uninterrupted single phase power supply between 6 pm and 6 am across the State, including the rural areas, in the coming months to help students study for examinations, the minister said.
Last week the demand for power had reached an unprecedented 167 million units and the State government had met the same, she added.
On future power projects, Karandlaje said the State government had proposed to set up gas-based power generating stations of 700 MW capacity each at Belgaum, Gadag and Davangere.
The Department of Water Resources has agreed in principle to provide 15 cusecs of water per day for the projects. Technical evaluation of Request for Proposal (RFP) of the bids have been completed, she said.
Land acquisition for the 1,320-MW coal-based thermal power project at Gulbarga and another 1,320 MW coal-based thermal power project at Ghataprabha have been completed. Besides, the proposal for setting up the 5th and the 6th units (700 MW each) at Kaiga nuclear plant will be placed before the Cabinet for approval.
Land identification work for setting up a 4x700 MW nuclear plant at Mannuru in Bijapur district is in its preliminary stages, she said.
The government had earmarked Rs 350 crore for replacing old transformers for reducing transmission and distribution losses.
Linemen posts
To another question by S R Leela (BJP), the minister said the energy department would soon recruit 2,000 linemen. The Finance Department had approved the proposal.
Shortage of staff had forced Gram Panchayats to outsource electricity bill collection, she pointed out.