Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated AP-Transco’s 12 substations and laid foundation stones for 16 more across the State, in virtual mode from his camp office at Tadepalli on November 28 (Tuesday). He also laid the foundation stone for a 750 MW solar power project in Kadapa and a 100 MW solar power project in Anantapur, all worth ₹6,600 crore.
The government also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) for setting up solar and wind energy plants of 500 MW each and a 250 MW PSP plant with an investment of ₹10,000 crore. These projects have the potential to create employment for 1,500 persons. The officials of the Energy Department and the HPCL exchanged the MoU copies in the presence of the Chief Minister.
“The government is committed to supplying quality power to all the regions. The new substations will help upgrade the supply and transmission capacity. Mandals such as Kunavaram, Chintur, V.R. Puram and Etipaka, which were submerged during the Godavari floods recently, will also get quality power. The new substations will also help address the issues pertaining to power supply,” said Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated 12 sub-stations built with a cost of ₹620 crore in Alluri Sitharama Raju, Sri Satya Sai, Eluru, Palnadu, Nellore, Annamayya and Kadapa districts and laid stone for 16 sub-stations in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Kakinada, East Godavari, Konaseema, West Godavari, Guntur, Prakasam, Nandyal and Kurnool districts which would be built at a cost of ₹2,479 crore.
He also laid the foundation stone for enhancing the production capacity of EV scooter manufacturing utility of Avera AI Mobility Private Limited plant at Nunna in Vijayawada from 25,000 to 1 lakh units. The enhanced production capacity will provide employment to another 200 persons.
Free power to farm sector
The government had spent ₹1,700 crore in the initial days on enhancing the feeder capacity to supply nine-hour free power to farmers during the day time. The government has signed an agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to produce 17,000 million units of solar power in the State and supply 13,000 million units of power to the farm sector at a cost of ₹2.49 per unit as against the usual average unit cost of ₹5.30, reducing the burden of the exchequer on free power supply to farmers.
The SECI would make available 3,000 MW, 3,000 MW and 1,000 MW of solar power by September 2024, September 2025 and September 2026 respectively. The solar power projects coming up with an investment of ₹3,400 crore at the solar parks in Kadapa and Anantapur have an employment potential for 1,700 persons.
Energy, Mining and Environment Minister P. Ramachandra Reddy, Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy, Energy Special Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand, AP-Genco MD K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu, AP-Transco Vigilance and Security JMD B. Malla Reddy, representatives of the HPCL, Ayana Power, Sprng Agnitra, Solar Energy A.P. Six Pvt. Ltd. and Avera AI Mobility Private Limited were among those present.
