Power-starved Indian state asks for increased power access

The state government of Assam has requested India's power minister Veerappa Moily to increase the minimum available transfer capacity to the north-eastern region to 400 MW.

At present, the ATC for short term open access is only 135 MW during off-peak hours and 215 MW during peak hours applicable for the entire north-eastern region.

The state has been facing an average shortfall of about 550 MW, with the peak demand touching a high of 1,300 MW.

To bridge the demand-supply gap, the state has had to procure power from or beyond the eastern region either through bi-lateral trading or from the power exchanges.

The government said that these measures get "severely handicapped due to drastic curtailment in ATC from eastern region to north-eastern region".