Haryana wants more power allocation to beat drought

October 7th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Though unable to meet the current peak demand of a little over 300 MW of power for the union territory, the Chandigarh administration plans to make arrangements for the supply of another 1,000 MW by 2018 to cope with the rising demand. "Efforts are under way for long-term tie-ups with some central power projects to ensure uninterrupted power supply to Chandigarh.

September 30th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The ruling Congress in Haryana Wednesday promised in its manifesto for the Oct 13 assembly elections to make the state power surplus in the coming years. Releasing the party's manifesto here, Chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress general secretary in-charge for Haryana affairs Prithviraj Chavan claimed their party would register a thumping victory.

September 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's Power Secretary H.S. Brahma Saturday sought an increase in allocation of gas from the Krishna Godavari basin to the power sector.

August 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Monday demanded Rs.2,000 crore from the central government to purchase power for the drought hit areas of the state. Mayawati met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence here, though she skipped an internal security meeting attended by chief ministers.

August 17th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - New lakes will be dug and reservoirs built, while old ones will be renovated by the Haryana government to fight drought in the future, the state's finance minister has announced. The Haryana government has decided to dig big lakes and will renovate the old ones in the state to provide irrigation facilities to the farmers in adverse circumstances, a state government spokesman said Monday quoting the minister, Birendra Singh.

August 16th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Haryana Sunday urged the central government to provide it Rs. 3,168.75 crore to tackle drought-like conditions.

August 4th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Having drawn power from other states and agencies to meet the increased requirement of its farming community during paddy plantation this year, the Haryana government now wants the central government to foot the bill of Rs.1,000 crore. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, in a communication to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday, sought a special relief package of Rs.1,000 crore to compensate the state power utilities for the costly purchase of additional power for sowing of the paddy crop.

July 25th, 2009 PANAJI - Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Saturday expressed concern about the possibility of drought due to deficient monsoon in India, but said the government had "contingency measures in place". "Already there are signs of drought.

July 14th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The Haryana government will start a two-week campaign from Wednesday to woo school dropouts back to school to increase the literacy rate in the state, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Tuesday. "This campaign is part of our drive to educate every individual in Haryana.

July 13th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The Haryana government Monday approved allocation of Rs.900 crore (Rs.9 billion) for metro rail-link project in the IT city of Gurgaon. The metro-link will connect Delhi's Sikanderpur station to national highway no.8 in Gurgaon.

July 1st, 2009 SHIMLA - Punjab and Haryana have started getting more electricity from Himachal Pradesh from Wednesday, say officials. "Now, Punjab will get an additional 10 lakh units and Haryana four lakh units daily till the month-end," said Suneel Grover, Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board's director of generation.

June 30th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Accusing the central government of bias in coal mine allocation, Orissa Tuesday demanded more coal to fuel its industrialisation drive. Speaking at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), a state official said Orissa gets only 7.67 percent of the total coal allocation though it has 24.29 percent of the total coal reserves in the country.

June 29th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Having ordered a ban on the use of air conditioners in government offices throughout Haryana, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Monday led by example when he ordered that the air-conditioner of his committee room be switched off too. Hooda had come to the committee room of the Haryana civil secretariat here to chair a meeting on the functioning of the state's power sector.

June 28th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - After Punjab last week banned use of air-conditioners in government offices, the Haryana government too Sunday imposed a similar ban across the state to tide over the power crisis the heat wave conditions have caused in the region. "With a view to economise the use of power, the Haryana government has decided to ban the use of air conditioners in its offices and that of boards and corporations, universities and local bodies situated in the state with immediate effect," an official spokesman said here Sunday.

February 23rd, 2009 CHANDIGARH - A host of auxiliary services of the Haryana government, such as cleaning, gardening, courier work, transport and communications, will be up for grabs for private players. The state government has modified its policy to allow its departments to outsource supporting services, state government officials said here Monday.