State power issue to be solved by 2014: Moily

With the Southern Power Grid getting connected to National Power Grid by the end of January 2014, the power scarcity will be resolved, said Union Minister for Power M Veerappa Moily here on Sunday.

Speaking to the reporters at Circuit House he said that the five electricity grids were interconnected with each other except with the southern grid. Now, the Centre has decided to connect the Southern Grid with the National Grid by constructing lines between Maharashtra (Western Grid) and Karnataka (Southern Grid). “This will help in easing the congestion of electricity transmission lines in the country and also help to address power shortage faced by southern states,” Moily said.  A major power station is being set up in Raichur and  it will be connected to the Western Power Grid, he added. On Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) report on coal allocation, he said that  allocation of coal blocks was done in accordance with the law by the UPA government.

“During the rule of NDA government, the allocation of coal was done in an improper manner. Hence, the report produced by the CAG is just a presumptive one and not clear,” he said.  Moily lauded the state government on managing the exodus of northeast people from Karnataka to their native places.