No power shortage in state, says CM

HYDERABAD: Dismissing concerns regarding shortage of power supply, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said there was no shortage of power supply and that the industry need not worry about power problems in future. "Power projects are lying idle because of non-supply of gas. It is also a fact that the power grid is not connected from north to south, which is also one of the problems," he said. However, he said that the Power Grid Corporation has promised to solve the problem by 2013.Addressing industry leaders at an interactive session organised by  the FICCI here on Tuesday,  he said that despite apprehensions, the government was supplying free power to over 30 lakh agricultural pumpsets. "The power subsidy is over Rs 5,500 crore, which includes farmers and low income households," he explained. He also said that the focus was now on industries including agriculture, horticulture, dairy, poultry and fisheries. And in a bid to promote these sectors, the government had increased the budget outlay from Rs 20 crore to Rs 230 crore this year.  Similarly, output from dairy is expected to be nearly doubled from over 3 lakh litres to about 5 lakh litres. "Over 1.35 crore SHG women have been provided Rs 11,500 crore as bank linkage at zero percent interest. We are requesting the Centre to reduce interest from 14 per cent to 7 per cent for women," he said, adding the state was also targeting to get one crore acres under ayacut irrigation in the next 7-8 years.