Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has requested Union Defence Minister A.K.Antony and Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily for priority allocation of gas for the gas-based power projects in the State at the meeting of Empowered Group of Ministers to be held on Wednesday.
He requested reprioritisation of gas allocation and additional 11.7 MMSCMD of domestic gas from new sources, including ONGC and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation fields to power sector.
According to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office, he emphasised the need to consider the case of Andhra Pradesh as special status. Andhra Pradesh gas based power plants are the only projects which were constructed on the firm allocation of gas from KG Basin.
For these eight gas based power projects and Vijjeshwaram Joint Venture power project, the Gas Linkage Committee had originally allocated 12.97 million standard cubic metres of gas per day.
The EGoM allocated 6.82 MMSCMD for long term power purchase agreement projects and 2.34 MMSCMD to merchant plants. It was allotted about 9.16 MMSCMD at the rate of 75 per cent plant load factor.
The Chief Minister has been relentlessly pursuing the issue of gas allocation with the Union Government.
He had earlier requested that power sector should be given priority over fertiliser industry. This would help augment additional 7 MMSCMD gas to power sector. And this 7 MMSCMD gas may be allotted to Andhra Pradesh in view of severe power shortage in the State.
The Chief Minister suggested that gas based power projects in the State should be given priority over Ratnagiri Gas Power Pvt. Ltd., as this project was originally planned with naphtha as fuel whereas plants in the State were planned with natural gas as fuel.