Efforts on to ease power crisis in summer: CM

NAGPUR: The government is making all efforts to minimise the power crisis in Maharashtra by augmenting generation and purchase from other sources, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said on Tuesday.

"Summer will not be much difficult as there was all possibility of certain improvement in the power scenario," Deshmukh told reporters here.

He said the two thermal power plants at Parli and Paras will commence generation of 250 MW each later this month.

Similarly the Dabhol plant was supplying 700 MW power, which will go up to 1,400 MW by April-May and further rise to 2,100 MW by October this year.

Work on laying pipeline for the Dabhol project will be completed by April 1 and efforts were on to procure gas to run the plant.

"Power scenario was dismal in the entire country as there was a shortfall of about 70,000 MW while that of Maharashtra was 5,000 MW," Deshmukh said.

The government was finalising purchase agreements with Tatas and Reliance to further ease the problem, he said, flanked by former Shiv Sena MP Subodh Mohite, who recently joined the Congress.

Acknowledging Mohite's efforts the establishment of the 5,000 MW NTPC power project in Maharashtra, Deshmukh said Union Energy Minister Sushilkumar Shinde was monitoring the proposal and it will soon be through.