Sources in the Power Department said that the two Discoms – UHBVN and DHBVN — supplied 1,802 lakh units of power to various categories of consumers on Thursday. Power cuts of 16.1 lakh units were imposed and unscheduled inter-charge (UI) of 12 lakh units was done from the Northern Grid.

The UI means overdrawing power from the grid over and above the state’s share.

PK Das, Additional Chief Secretary, Power, said that the maximum demand of power for the day on Thursday was 8,210 MW recorded at 1.45 pm which was close to the highest in the recent days.

Against overdrawn power (UI), the power utilities have to pay charges which depend on the frequency (number of cycles per second) of electricity at that particular time.

Sources said that the cost of electricity could range from 40 to 50 paisa per unit to Rs 10 or more per unit.

A frequency of 50 Hz is ideal and the electricity is available at the cheapest rates at such time. Haryana, according to sources, overdrew 12 lakh units at the rate of Rs 1.08 per unit on Thursday.

Claiming that the power situation is good in the state as of now, Das said that out of the four functional units of Panipat thermal plant, units number 7 and 8 of 250 MW each were functioning at a capacity of 207 MW and 203 MW, respectively, and unit 6 of 210 MW was running at 171 MW.

Two units of 300 MW each of Yamunanagar plant were producing 225 MW and 234 each, two units of 600 MW each of Khedar (Hisar) plant were producing 397 MW and 392 MW each and two Jhajjar plants of 500 MW each, where Haryana has half share, are running at capacity of 332 MW and 302 MW.

Two plants of 660 MW each of Adani Power Limited, owned by Industrialist Gautam Adani, are working at capacity of 582 MW and 587 MW. Besides these, Haryana is getting 286 MW as its share from 1,024 MW produced by Bhakra dam and also getting power from a number of smaller sources like National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and Tehri dam etc.

“There are no scheduled cuts in the state now, though sometimes electricity supply has to be snapped due to maintenance or break downs,” said Das. Satpal Kaushik, former general secretary of the state Congress, however, said that farmers where still getting power for 5 to 6 hours instead of normal 8 hours.

GS Mann, a farmer from Sirsa, said the situation was no better in towns where residents have to experience a number of power cuts daily.