Power Outage: Bihar Witnesses 4-8 Hours Daily Power Cut Amid Increased Consumption In Festival Season

The Energy Secretary of Bihar tweeted last week that Bihar companies do not generate electricity. But people are receiving power supply at affordable rates.

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Patna: On one hand, acute coal shortage in the country has led to a power crisis and on the other Dussehra and Diwali have spiked the demand for electricity. Bihar has been paying an additional Rs 20 crore daily for the past couple of days to purchase power from the open market. Officials at the energy department are assuming that there is a power problem in the state, but the work is going on to improve the situation.  

The state gets the thermal power through National Thermal Power Station (NTPC). According to media reports, it is capable of supplying about 3,000-3,300 MW of power against its scheduled allocation of 4,500 MW. According to official sources, due to high demand and low supply, the power purchase rate in Bihar increased by Rs 20 per unit against an average cost of Rs 3 to Rs 5 earlier.

An official in the department said the state was getting only around 347 MW to 397 MW over the last couple of days against a 688 MW power purchase agreement through private companies. That is why it has led to power scarcity in the state. Because of these reasons, Bihar is facing an average power outage of 4 to 8 hours a day. This is happening especially in rural areas of the state.

Sanjeev Hans, Bihar’s Energy Secretary tweeted last week that "Bihar power firms do not generate electricity. Instead, they buy power from central power generation institutions and supply it to consumers. Given the current coal crisis, we are getting expensive power, but are supplying electricity to consumers at a cheaper rate."

Demand increases by 250-300 MW for the festive season

The Energy Secretary had added that "power supply has been improving constantly. There has been a reduction in open market price. We are now buying power at Rs 14- Rs 16 per unit. The situation is returning to normal. We will soon be able to ensure availability of power commensurate to its demand." He said the power demand in Bihar increases by 250-300 MW during Dussehra and Diwali.