Hyderabad - Power, Energy, Electricity

The Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TSSPDCL) has decided to take up maintenance works pertaining to air-break (AB) switches, proper earthing of distribution transformers (DTRs), conductors and others on war-footing to ensure uninterrupted power supply during ensuing summer season in Greater Hyderabad.

A review meeting was conducted by Director (Operations) J. Sreenivasa Reddy with all Superintending and Divisional Engineers of the operation wing here on Tuesday. He also instructed them along with other operations and maintenance staff to be alert in attending to the electrical complaints so as to not cause inconvenience to consumers. The Director stated that energy consumption in Greater Hyderabad operating wing had touched to 53 million units (MU) during last summer and it was a record in the distribution company’s history. They were expecting the consumption to around 55 to 58 MU in the coming summer season too.

Mr. Sreenivasa Rao said various maintenance works were taken up to meet the expected demand without any operational problems.

However, the maintenance works could result 2 to 4 hours of power shutdowns in some areas of the city during the next one month, he said and added that all maintenance works were scheduled to be completed by the second week of March.

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A high-level economic and business delegation from the United States that met Principal Secretary for Industries and Energy, Telangana government, Arvind Kumar here on Thursday expressed its intent to work with the State government in the field of renewable energy sector and to be a technological partner in the green hub project in the State. Mr. Arvind Kumar gave a brief about the status and development for the energy sector in the State to the delegation led by Charles Rivkin, Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs in the US Department of State. He told the visiting team that the State Government had a target to generate 2,500 MW solar power by the end of this year.

Further, he explained about the solar policy of the State and it had been widely welcomed by the industry. Of the total 8,000 MW of solar power finalised by the government of India, 2,500 MW was from Telangana, he said and added that in line with its support to technology entrepreneurs, the State was preparing to set up an incubation centre for renewable energy start-ups next year. The government would join hands with Texas University for technical know how.

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The Telangana government has expressed confidence in achieving a target of generating 960 MW of solar power by the end of next financial year.

This was informed to the Joint Secretary of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Tarun Kapoor, by Principal Secretary of Energy of Telangana, Arvind Kumar, when a team of the Ministry met him at the Secretariat. The meeting was held to discuss the implementation of solar policy in the State, a release said.

Mr. Arvind Kumar said the State had made rapid strides in solar power generation in the last one year. The total installed capacity of solar power generation was likely to cross 450 MW. Tendering for solar projects, totalling 2,000 MW, was already completed. In wind energy, Telangana had a potential to generate 4,000 MW. Bidding process for a solar park in Mahabubnagar would be taken up once the land for the same was made available. The detailed project report would be ready by the middle of next month, he added and sought Central funds for a green hub incubation centre which was proposed with the technical cooperation of University of Texas. The Union Joint Secretary appreciated the government’s proactive policies on solar power and said the State had become a role model in the sector for the country.

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In a major capacity addition, the state will get 25 million units of additional power every day from the 1,200 MW (2×600 MW) thermal power plants of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited in Adilabad district from the end of May.
While the first unit was synchronised in March, the second unit will be done on May 10 and commercial operations will start from May 30. This power will be relatively inexpensive, at Rs 4.20 paise per unit against Rs 6 per unit being purchased by TS power utilities from private power producers.
Power consumption has touched 150 MU in March and is expected to go up to 180 MU per day in peak summer, and even more once the nine-hour day-time power supply commences for the agriculture sector.
Singareni Collieries will set up the third unit of the thermal power plant later. With stricter green norms in place, and the Centre permitting only more environmental friendly supercritical thermal power plants, the capacity of the new unit will be decided by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.
As per government of India norms, Singareni Collieries can either build a 660 MW or 800 MW super critical thermal plant.
“This is the first time that Singareni Collieries has ventured into a field other than coal mining. We hope to get around Rs 3,000 crore revenue through the sale of power,” Singareni Collieries chairman and managing director N. Sridhar said. He said Telangana state power utilities owe SCCL about Rs 2,000 crore towards coal supply and they were in the process of paying it.

25 new mines planned
The Singareni Collieries Company Limited will invest `20,000 crore in the next five years and open 25 new mines.
Singareni is a major taxpayer to the state and Central governments and has made 5,000 recruitments this financial year. It plans to increase recruitments during the 2016-17 financial year, as human resources would be needed for new mines.
The company has paid Rs 2,151 crore to the TS government towards royalty and VAT and Rs 2,500 crore to the Central government towards clean energy, IT and corporate taxes in the 2015-16 financial year.
Company CMD N. Sridhar said that SCCL has broken all records in its 127-year history in production of coal, despatch and made a profit of Rs 1,020 crore in 2015-16 fiscal as against Rs 490 crore during the previous financial year. There is a 17 per cent growth in turnover at Rs 16,516 crore against Rs 14,000-odd crore in the previous fiscal.
“As per the vision of the Chief Minister, SCCL will enhance its production, performance, quality of coal and profits in the current fiscal i.e. 2016-17 financial year. Of the 25 new mines, eight would be opened in the current fiscal. Our target is to achieve 100 million tonnes of coal production per year in the next five years,” Mr Sridhar said.
“We have achieved 60.3 million tonnes of coal production, which is 15 per cent growth over last year and highest ever growth in 127 years of SSCL history,” the SCCL CMD said.

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Energy Minister G. Jagadish Reddy has stated that the power utilities in Telangana are ready to meet demand up to 9,000 MW during the ongoing summer season and the early kharif operations.

Speaking after a review meeting with officials of the Genco, Transco and Discoms here on Tuesday, the Minister said that the peak demand of power had been ranging between 6,700 MW to 7,200 MW due to the peaking summer demand from the domestic sector and with the implementation of nine-hour free power supply to the farm sector.

The peak demand was expected to touch 9,000 MW in the event of good monsoon as those cultivating irrigated crops with the help of groundwater were likely to avail nine-hour supply completely.

“The government has made all arrangements, including power purchase from private producers so that supply could be ensured to all consumers without any interruption,” the Minister stated.

Stating that although the government had launched nine-hour supply to farm sector from April 1, the Discoms were supplying power in two spells – six hours during the day and three hours in the night – after receiving representations from individual farmers, farmers’ bodies and elected representatives, even as Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was for giving it in one spell during daytime. However, they were also given power up to eight hours in daytime itself in pockets where vegetable cultivation was high, Mr. Jagadish Reddy explained.

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Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of up to $ 175 million to Mytrah Energy, an independent power producer focused on renewable energy.

It is to help fund development of a portfolio of new wind and solar projects, a release from the company said on Thursday. The projects being financed include wind power projects in Rajasthan, M.P., A.P. and Karnataka and solar power projects in Telangana and Punjab.

The electricity is to be supplied to the respective state power distribution companies under long-term power purchase agreements.

Capacity expansion

“This financing will allow the company to expand its capacity,” said Mayank Choudhary, Senior Investment Specialist in ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department. The decision also supported ADB’s strategy of stepped up financing for renewable energy and increased support for private investment in the sector, he said.

The loan facility “underpins our growth plan. The company expects to reach its medium-term capacity target of 1,000 MW in the coming 12 months,” said Mytrah Energy India Chairman Ravi Kailas.

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Hyderabad-based start-up Nuevosol Energy that specialises in module mounting solutions plans to set up three manufacturing units for the profiles this fiscal.

Each of the proposed facility, to manufacture profiles used to form the racks on which the solar panels are installed, is expected to entail an investment of Rs.5 crore. The firm had recently established its first unit in Hyderabad.

Besides one more unit in Hyderabad, it wants to set up a facility each in Mumbai and Rajasthan, CEO and Managing Director Himamsu Popuri said on Thursday.

Addressing presspersons here, he said this while referring to the surge in demand for the products the company expected this year. Nuevosol, which over the last four years had provided the mounting solutions for 1,500 mw solar energy projects, is confident of doing better than the cumulative achievement this fiscal.

He cited enhanced interest in clean energy, a steep fall in the tariff and the Centre revising the 2022 target - from 20 Gigawatt to 100 GW - as reasons that will drive solar energy sector.

While own manufacturing facilities would help meet the deadlines, the total installed capacity of the four units - to make materials for structures to support 400 mw - would still be less than the demand. The company, he added, would continue to source profiles from leading companies such as Pennar for sometime.

Noting that about $ 6 million was the investment made on the company, he said it had filed papers for over 30 patents. Mr. Popuri said that Nuevosol’s order book currently was around Rs.120 crore. On the turnover, he said, it was around Rs.180 crore last fiscal and the company was looking to post over Rs.400 crore in 2016-17.

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Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has claimed that his government has added 5039 MW of power during the last two-and-half years in Telangana State.

Making a statement on the floor of State Legislative Assembly in view of Telangana State joining Centre's Uday Scheme on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said that as on June 2, 2014, the power capacity of the State was 5,8963 MW and the shortage was of 2,700 MW. With an addition of 5039 MW, today the power generation capacity in Telangana State is 10,902 MW. Of this, 3,531 MW were from Hydel, Solar and Wind Power. "Even though the power generation capacity is 10,902 MW, the stable power we can depend on is 7,371 MW. As on today, the demand for power is 8,284 MW. This shows the variation of more than 1,000 MW between demand and production in the State. Even then, my government is supply quality power without power cuts in the State," he said.

The Chief Minister claimed that from November 20, 2014, i.e., after six months of the formation of Telangana State, the government was supplying power without any power cuts. He also claimed that the government was supplying 24 hours power for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes and 9 hours three phase current to agriculture sector. "The usage of generators in our State has reduced drastically. Today, the time has come when the invertors will go and investors will come," he said.

KCR also claimed that presently Telangana was miles ahead in power sector. It has successfully overcome the difficulties that cropped up due to the indiscriminate policies adopted in erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister said that the two discoms in the State were in the debts to the tune of Rs. 11,897 crore. Blaming the previous regimes for wrong policies, he said that his government focussed on augmenting power generation capacity through short term, medium term and long term strategies. "We mainly focussed on increasing the institutional capacity initially. We reduced the losses in supply and distribution from 16.83% to 15.98%. We substantially increased production of power through Genco. We marched forward to expeditiously complete the power plants which are progressing on snail pace," he said.

Due to these measures, 600 MW through Bhupalpally KTPP, 1200 MW through Jaipur Singareni Power Plant, 940 MW through Thermal Power Tech, 550 MW through Central Generating Stations, 240 MW through Jurala Hydro Power Project, 30 MW through Pulichintala Project, 1080 MW Solar Power, 99 MW Wind Power, totally about 5039 MW was realised within a short duration of two-and-a-half years.

The Chief Minister informed that by appreciating the performance of power sector, the financial institutions like REC and PFC had reduced the interest rate on loans from 12% to 9.95%. Due to this, Rs. 2,000 crore were saved. He hoped that the Telangana State would soon achieve the goal of being a power surplus State by generation of 5880 MW of power through Bhadradari, Yadadri and Kothagudem power plants which are to be newly established. As per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, NTPC will establish power generation stations with 4000 MW capacity at Ramagundem. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already laid the foundation stone for first phase construction of 1600 MW capacity plant. In three years 595 MW power will be provided through CGS. Singareni is establishing another 800 MW power station at Jaipur and 1000 MW of power will come in 3-4 months from Chattisgarh. Besides these plants, by 2017-18, 3920 MW of Solar Power will also be materialised.

KCR said that the Telangana State will have power capacity of 27,187 MW by 2019.

The Chief Minister informed the House that the government was entering into MoU with Central Government to join the Uday scheme. "Due to defective policies of erstwhile rulers, the two discoms were in debts to the tune of Rs. 11,897 crore. TSSPDCL has Rs. 7,392 crore debts while TSNPDCL has Rs. 4,505 debts. By joining in the Uday scheme, 75% of debts, i.e., Rs. 8,923 crore will be paid by the State Government. The remaining Rs. 2,974 crore can be given as bonds with government guarantee by Discoms. With this, the discoms will be free from burden of loan," he said while adding that the State will be saving Rs. 890 crore annual interest. He said that the government would be giving Rs. 4,584 crore to Discoms in form of subsidy.

KCR also informed that a decision has been taken to regularise about 20,000 employees working on outsourcing basis. So far, 1175 JLMs were regularised, he said.

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Director-General of Police Anurag Sharma on Monday inaugurated a solar power plant at the Police Department store Suvidha at Lakdi-ka-pul. The 35 KV power plant was installed to lower energy consumption of the store on conventional power.

Mr. Sharma said the plant would not just bring down power cost, but its eco-friendliness was the need of the hour in the face of rising global warming concerns. The power plant makes Suvida the first super-market in the city to go solar. Besides police, personnel of fire services purchase from the store.

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Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has exhorted the officials of the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited to ensure speedy completion of the power lines connecting southern States with the north-east and west grid.

Once the connectivity was established between the southern States and NDEW grid, the utilities would be in a position to coordinate the demand and supply of power across the country, he said.

Speaking to a delegation of the PGCIL led by its chairman I.S. Jha and senior officials, who called on him at Pragati Bhavan on Tuesday, the Chief Minister wanted the officials to complete the power lines between Wardha and Dichpally to ensure power supply from Chattisgarh to the State.

The PGCIL officials told the Chief Minister that the line would be completed by March and with the completion of the 765 KV double circuit line of 4,500 MW capacity, the State would be able to get power from Chattisgarh.

The Chief Minister wanted the PGCIL to take up works on the Warangal-Varora (Maharashtra) with immediate effect. The completion of the two lines would facilitate power transmission between the southern grid and NEW Grid paving the way for coordination among different States.

According to an official release, the PGCIL had expressed keenness to invest in the transmission projects in the State and Mr. Rao wanted the officials of the State departments to hold negotiations in this regard.

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The groundwater table in Telangana rose significantly by December 2016 with the depth at which water is found nearly halved compared to the depth at which it was found in May 2016. While the average depth of groundwater availability in the state stood at 8.5 metres from the surface in December, in May 2016, water could be found only an average depth of 15.62 metres.
The state groundwater department in its latest report, said the more than 7 metre rise in the water table was because of the rainfall, which was 19% in excess of what was received last year.
With the copious rains in most parts of the state last year, the groundwater table increased considerably . This was despite the fact that the two previous years, 2015 and 2014, witnessed deficit rainfall in the state.

In Hyderabad district, the department said that the water level rose to an average depth of 6.37 metres from 10.99 metres. The department said that an analysis of groundwater levels this past December, however, indicated that the water table was more than 20 metres below the surface in 35 mandals, including six in Siddipet and four each in Nalgonda, Rangareddy and Nagar Kurnool districts.
As many as 130 mandals, including Rangareddy (12), Mahabubnagar (11), Medak (9), Vikarabad (8), Sanga Reddy (8) and Nizamabad (8), recorded water at depths ranging from 10 and 20 metres despite the heavy rains, the department said.

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The Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) or municipalities across the State are set to see brighter nights as they are in for a street-lighting facelift through replacement of conventional lamps with LEDs saving energy consumption by 50 per cent and reducing power bills substantially.

The Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration (CDMA) on Wednesday facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (under Ministry of Power) for switching over to LED streetlights. So far, 30 ULBs have agreed to go for LEDs while 18 more are ready to follow suit.

“Municipal bodies need not spend on replacing the conventional lamps. Operations and maintenance of the LEDs for seven years will be taken up by the EESL. They will monetise the energy saved and ULBs can expect to get the same benefit after the contract period,” explained CMDA T.K. Sreedevi, during an interaction before the ceremony.



The EESL had undertaken a pilot study in a GHMC area before taking up the demand survey in the 72-odd ULBs in the State and about 60 municipal bodies have been covered so far. The rest of the demand surveys would be completed and works would be grounded within the current financial year. In fact, Ms. Sreedevi has set the deadline of Ugadi for the project completion.

The 30 ULBs have more than two lakh streetlights consuming 81 million units of power and post the switch over to LEDs, the consumption is expected to come down to 31 million units. The EESL would be spending Rs. 98.9 crore on the work. Municipal bodies pay Rs. 69.90 crore annually for power consumption and this is expected to come down to Rs. 52.49 crore when switched over to LEDs.

The Commissioner pointed out that the power bills were a major burden for ULBs and once they are reduced with LEDs, it would be the first step towards ‘smart cities’ as it could lead to further spin offs like wi-fi spots and so on to attract investments. Once MoUs are signed, tenders would be called for and the work would get rolling as talks were also held with the power distribution companies for replacement of equipment like transformers and the likes. The EESL representatives have also offered to replace more lights than the figure obtained during the demand survey. Old equipment would be purchased and existing contract manpower of the ULBs would be utilised for the work.

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Minister for Energy G. Jagadish Reddy on Thursday said power utilities in the State were ready to meet any demand during the peak consumption period of March-May this year, when the demand from the farm sector is expected to be high.

The power utilities were expecting the demand to reach the peak around 9,500 MW during March-May, but they were all prepared to meet even higher demand, the Minister said at a review meeting held with the officials of TS-Trasnco, TS-SPDCL and TS-NPDCL. He asked the officials to ensure interruption-free power to domestic, commercial and industrial sectors and as per the given schedule to the farm sector.

Stating that the utilities were meeting a demand of about 8,300 MW now, the Minister said the peak consumption by the farm sector could push the demand to around 9,500 MW during the crucial stages of rabi cultivation. He instructed all the power utilities to take all necessary measures to meet the demand from of all types of consumers. “The field-level officials should coordinate with the local elected representatives to ensure reliable supply to the agricultural sector,” he suggested.

The Minister told all the Superintending Engineers to inspect all special maintenance centres of distribution transformers (DTRs) and maintain at least 4 per cent rolling stock to replace failed DTRs in specific time. On the pending agriculture connections, he directed the officials to clear all before May-end and in case if it was not possible, reasons should be given to the farmer concerned in advance. He also told the officials to prepare a 100-day programme, as directed by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, for replacement of bent/broken poles, restringing of loose spans, repairing AB switches, restringing of lines in a specific height at road crossings and separate lines for streetlighting.

Chairman and Managing Director of TS-SPDCL G. Raghuma Reddy, CMD of TS-NPDCL A. Gopal Rao, Joint MD of TS-Transco C. Srinivasa Rao, Directors T. Srinivas, J. Sreenivasa Reddy and Kalaluddin Ali Khan, all the Chief General Managers, Superintending Engineers and Divisional Engineers attended the meeting.

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The Telangana power utilities are confident of securing environmental clearance for the proposed 1,080 MW (4X270 MW) thermal power plant at Manuguru in Khammam district soon.

Senior officials of the utilities made an elaborate presentation on the project to the expert committee deputed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on January 20. The confidence of the officials stems from the fact that the members of the expert panel did not seek any clarifications relating to the project and assured them that their views would be incorporated in the minutes of the meeting expected to be prepared within a week.

“This is a favourable development. We are hopeful that the indication about the clearance will come in the minutes,” a senior official told The Hindu. The project faced initial obstacles after the Union Ministry had delisted it citing use of the sub-critical technology and rejected approval as the proposed power plant went against the Government’s policy of encouraging super critical technology projects.




The State Government had subsequently addressed a letter to the Union Power Ministry claiming that the project had been launched during the XII Plan period itself while the Centre had proposed to allow (commission) super critical technology projects during the XIII Plan period, starting April 1 this year. The Union Ministry subsequently communicated its ‘no objection’ for the establishment of the coal-based thermal power plant with sub-critical technology subject to its completion by December this year.

Tariff uncertainty


Meanwhile, the uncertainty over whether the utilities would propose tariff hike for the next year continues as there was no clarity on the quantum of subsidy that would be extended by the Government. Senior officials said they were waiting for a meeting with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for clarity to evolve in this direction.

Officials said if the Government agreed to bridge the gap between the revenue earned and the costs incurred on account of various factors, including operational and employee costs, there was no scope for proposing hike in tariff. The Government had sanctioned huge subsidy of Rs. 4,382 crore which had been paid in 12 equal instalments over the last one year. “It all depends on the quantum of subsidy that will be extended,” the official said.

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In a bid to promote solar energy and save power charges, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will intsal rooftop grid-connected power generation plants on its properties. In the first phase, 44 buildings out of the total 942 properties of the city’s civic body will get the panels. A resolution to execute the project was approved by the GHMC last year. Following this, the GHMC called for an expression of interest for the feasibility report and installation of the solar panels. Out of five bidders, two bidders, TUV South Asia Pvt Limited and M/s. The Energy and Resources Institute qualified for the execution of the project. The GHMC has estimated that a monthly amount of ₹ 52.5 lakh will be saved with the installation of solar panels on its properties.

The GHMC plans to power its buildings including head office, zonal offices, stadiums and slaughter houses with renewable energy.

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Special Chief Secretary (Energy) Ajay Mishra said that the Telangana State was set to become one of the hot spots for solar energy development in the country, led by State's target of power generation capacity of 5,000 MW by 2019-20 with solar photovoltaic and coal energy.

He was addressing a conference "Solar Invest - 2017" organised by the industry bodies ASSOCHAM and FTAPCCI here on Wednesday.

Ajay Mishra said that the state has a vast solar potential with average insulation (amount of solar radiation reaching the earth surface) of nearly 5.5 kWh/m2 for 300 sunshine days. By the end of December 2016, Telangana had installed a total solar capacity of 1070 MW, with 918 MW of utility scale solar projects and 27 MW of rooftop solar projects. Projects with generation capacity of 2000 MW are in pipeline with number of solar power developers engaged in building projects.

Under Telangana Solar Power Policy 2015, which will be valid for the next five years, Telangana state government aims at creating an enabling environment for prospective solar power developers to harness substantial quantum of solar power in optimum manner. The policy provides various incentives to the developers which include a single window and speedy clearance to all solar projects, exemption from the Land Ceiling Act, deemed conversion to non-agricultural land status for the land acquired for the project, 100% refund on Value Added Tax (VAT) etc.,

Ajay Mishra mentioned that easing on various other approval processes from local revenue departments simple and hassle free as part of ease of doing business in Telangana. He also mentioned about scaling up of Roof top projects which will be financially viable. Telangana State may also look at making Telangana State an Industrial hub for manufacturing of solar equipments with an enabling policy of supply of solar power making it an Integrated Solar Park.

Telangana State Electricity Regulartory Commission chairman Ismail Ali Khan explained the need for right mix of conventional and renewable energy sources. This is required not only for good stability but also for maintaining health of DISCOMs.

Solar tariff has attend grid parity with tariff lower than Rs. 5/-, state may look at feed in tariff of average purchase cost with fixed escalation of 3-4%. This will attract lot of investment into state and thereby achieve social transformation of the state, Ismail Ali Khan said.

FTAPCCI President Ravindra Modi said that the India offers unlimited growth potential for the solar power industry as the country enjoys about 300 clear, sunny days in a year. Further, the theoretically calculated solar energy incidence on its land area alone is about 5000 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. This is why the National Solar Mission has targeted the development of 100 GW solar capacity by 2022, which will require US$ 100 billion in investments. To achieve this, a 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) is permitted under the automatic route for renewable energy generation and distribution projects subject to provisions of The Electricity Act, 2003.

India, with its initiates in the field of renewable energy is trying hard to secure the future of its coming generation to fulfill its energy needs. With the support of Government and other private and public sector enterprises/companies, Solar Industry is letting itself grow in a very big manner. By 2022, India aims to power 60 million homes by the sun. It is part of the government's goal to produce 40 percent of its power from non-fossil fuels by 2030 Shri Modi said.

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Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao has instructed the officials concerned to ensure adequate power supply to farm sector to meet the demand during the present Rabi season.

The Chief Minister wanted the officials to make arrangements to withstand the demand for 10,000 MW. On the increase in demand for the power due to the increase in cultivation of land during the Rabi season, the Chief Minister spoke to Genco, Transco CMD D Prabhakar Rao. The CMD has informed the CM that there is a demand for 8500 MWs per day and the demand may increase to 9,500 MW next month, but yet the department is ready to supply the power and meet the demand.

Responding to this, the Chief Minister said, 'We have received good rains. Due to Mission Kakatiya there is water in abundance in the Tanks. There is an increase in the ground water table to about 8 meters. Under Rabi there is a record cultivation that is taking place. Borewells are being used to the maximum extent. There is more demand for the power supply now. Earlier, the demand for power supply used to be in the range of 2500-3000 MW daily, but this Rabi season, the demand is upto 4500 MWs and it may escalate to 5000 MW by next month. The total demand may increase to 10,000 MW. Besides providing adequate water supply to the farm sector, measures to be taken to supply power without any interruption to the industry, domestic sectors in the coming summer.'

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Another one-of-its-kind policy might come out of the State soon. The Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD), Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Administrative Staff College of India and the Natural Resources Defense Council have come together to explore the possibility of introducing a cool roof policy.

At a talk held in this connection, David Goldstein, co-director of Natural Resources Defense Council’s Energy Program, USA, suggested that the Telangana government make cool roofs mandatory for all public buildings forthwith. Delivering a lecture on ‘Cool Roofs-Technology, Policy and Implementation’, organised by Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), here on Wednesday, he said Hyderabad city can lead the country by taking various proactive measures to promote cool roof systems to protect citizens from rising temperatures. He also suggested that the government could simultaneously design an incentive programme for slums and low-income residents.

Navin Mittal, Secretary, MA&UD and B. Janardhan Reddy, GHMC Commissioner said that Government of Telangana will fully support the initiative.

R H Khwaja, Director General of the ASCI and V. Srinivas Chary, Professor at ASCI also spoke on the topic.

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