AGARTALA, May 19 (TIWN): Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey told TSECL (Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited) to find out reasons behind abrupt rise of average power consumption in the state’.

Speaking to reporters at  secretariat here on Monday, the minister said that average requirement of power rose to 250 MW as on last weekend while the figures for previous year stood at 200 MW at the time.

Asked about probable  reasons of the rise in power consumption in the state, Power Minister  said that due to rising purchasing capacity of the average people  of the state , induction cookers, motor pumps, air-conditioners, coolers and other electrical appliances are being increasingly used, adding to the power consumption scenario.

Palatana is currently undergoing a Performance Guarantee Test (PGT). The plant underwent shutdown for seven days from May 17 during which the state is suffering from an additional power-cut of at least 90 minutes. There are multiple power-cuts, each ranging at least an hour in most parts of the state. Parts of North Tripura district suffered further troubles due to disrupted power transmission lines.

He added that with the first unit undergoing test shut down, the second unit is now run on test basis. Tripura would be a power surplus state by approximately 70-80 MW after the second unit starts commercial generation which is expected within the current financial year, the minister said. Talks are going on to sell some of the additional power to Bangladesh, he added.