Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy Thursday assured the industry that current electricity crisis would ease soon as steps are being taken to narrow the gap between the demand and supply.
Addressing the southern regional meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, Reddy said the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) had agreed to supply additional gas to the state.
"The GAIL has promised to supply the gas in a week or 10 days and this will be sufficient to generate 500 MW of power," he told the captains of industry.
GAIL Wednesday agreed to supply 2.5 MMSCMD (Million Metric Standard Cubic Metre a Day) Regassifified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) to the state.
"Once this is tied up, things will be much better," the chief minister said while describing the current crisis a "temporary phenomenon".
Reddy also urged GAIL to work out a plan at least for the next two years to supply gas for generating 1,000 MW.
The state is reeling under unprecedented electricity crisis, severely affecting the industry and hitting the supply to domestic sector.
A three-day power holiday in a week was imposed on the industrial sector last week, in addition to daily four-hour cut in the peak time. In cities and towns, three to six hours' power cut is already in force for domestic consumers.
The chief minister told the meeting that the gap between power generation and consumption is 34 to 35 Million Units (MU) per day. The consumption has gone up by 15 percent over the last year.
Reddy attributed the crisis to the fall in gas supply and decline in the hydel power generation. The state has the capacity to generate 2,750 MW of power from gas-based plants. The gas supply, which was 75 percent earlier, recently came down to 34 percent, making it difficult for the plants to function.
The chief minister said hydel plants, which have a capacity of 18 MU, were currently generating only six MU.