Jagan dedicates SDSTPS 3rd unit to nation; AP Grid to get daily power boost

NELLORE: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, dedicated the third unit of the Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station SDSTPS at Nelaturu to the nation on Thursday, which will provide 19 million units of power to the AP Grid on a daily basis.

The state's power generation has advanced, according to the chief minister, who addressed a massive gathering at Nelaturu. He also said he was honoured to dedicate to the nation the 800 MW unit for which his father, the late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, laid the foundation stone in 2008.

Thanking the farmers profusely for sacrificing their lands for the thermal power station and the Krishna Patnam port, he distributed compensation to the tune of Rs. 35.74 crore to 16, 128 farmer-families by pressing the button and facilitating direct transfer of funds to their bank accounts.

Referring to the long wait of farmers who sacrificed their lands, the Chief Minister stated that the TDP regime subjected them to a slew of difficulties while paying Rs. 14,000 to 3,500 farmers. His government is only too happy to pay full compensation to the remaining 12787 farmer families, bringing their total to 16, 128.

The Chief Minister said that while 326 families have already been recruited, orders have been issued to employ another 150 families in the second phase before the end of November.

He stated that the 800 MW unit, an extension of the existing two units, was built by APGENCO with Super Critical Technology (SCT), the first of its kind in the country, and would help reduce coal consumption while also contributing to pollution reduction.

He further said that the dedicated unit, for which Rs. 3200 crore was allotted after the YSRCP came to power, would meet the growing energy demands in the housing, commercial, and industrial sectors, as well as supply power to the agricultural sector to meet the daily 9-hour free supply of power.

The third unit will provide 19 million units of power to the AP Grid each day, while APGENCO generated power currently meets 45% of the state's energy demand.

The Chief Minister granted Rs. 93 crores to build a submersible check dam over the Penna River at the request of party MLA Nallapureddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy in order to prevent backwater accumulations and supply water to four Mandals in the district.

Earlier, he also laid the foundation stone for a fishing jetti at Nelaturu village that would be constructed with a cost of Rs. 25 crores to facilitate the docking of 450 fishing boats.

The Chief Minister approved Rs. 21. 40 crores for construction projects in the Sarvepalli constituency in response to the earlier appeal made by the Minister for Agriculture and Cooperation, Kakani Govardhana Reddy.