SHILLONG

The State Power Department has prepared a Cabinet Memorandum proposing amalgamation of its three distribution companies into one and outsourcing some functions in a select number of urban and rural electrical circles. Stating this at a press conference here this afternoon, Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said that the re-bundling of the distribution companies would of course be done by setting some benchmark for quality improvement, while outsourcing was proposed as a pilot project.

Delhiites may be suffering four to five-hour power cuts this peak summer already, but a recent report on the power situation and tariff comparison of major Indian cities claims that in terms of outages, Delhi fares better than other places in the country.

Sharing the plight of residents of Kolkata reeling under acute power crisis, West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi has decided that Raj Bhavan, his official residence, will suffer a voluntary two-hour power cut daily from on Wednesday. "This decision follows Gandhi's view that Raj Bhavan need not be an exception to the city's electricity supply situation', a source said on Tuesday. The decision will be reviewed as and when necessary.

After successful completion of work to reduce power transmission and distribution losses to 20 per cent in the rural areas, the Rajasthan Government's Energy Department on Tuesday set a new target for bringing down the losses to 10 per cent or below at all divisional headquarters across the State. State Energy Secretary and Chairman and Managing Director of Rajasthan Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, Shrimat Pandey, laid down the ambitious target as part of the ongoing feeder renovation programme at a video-conference with the district officials.

The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has sanctioned 15 solar power plants of 1 kilo watt power each in 13 sub-divisions of DHBVN, Sirsa and in two sub-divisions of DHBVN, Faridabad. This step would help to meet the power requirements, besides creating awareness among the masses about the generation of power through solar photovoltaic technology.

The Rajasthan Government proposes to release about 5 lakh new domestic electricity connections in the rural areas this year in accordance with an announcement made by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in her Budget speech. The three public sector power discoms in the State have issued guidelines in this regard.

BANDIPORA: Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives Abdul Aziz Zargar said that government is committed to provide all basic facilities to the people of the state. He said road connectivity, adequate drinking water facility, power, health and education are the top most priority sectors of the government. Minister was addressing a large public gathering at Erin Bandipora today.

CERC wades into Centre's battles with Mayawati

CONSTRUCTION of 10 lakh houses for the poor and lower middle class and a load-shedding free Maharashtra will be on the agenda of the state government for the next two years, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced in Mumbai on Wednesday. He said that whatever land the State government has freed after the scrapping of the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA), would be used up for providing affordable houses for the lower and middle classes in the State.