Industrial, domestic power consumers increased in WB: minister

Kolkata: The number of electricity consumers in both industrial and domestic sectors has increased in West Bengal which is now a power surplus state, state minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said here today.

The number of industrial consumers has gone up from 78,074 in 2011 to 99,505 now, proving that demand for power from industries has increased, Power and Non-Conventional Energy Sources Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said.

Following the 'Power to Everyone' slogan coined by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after coming to power in 2011, the number of domestic consumers of power (domestic) has also increased to 1.2 crore from 86 lakh in 2011, he said.

"We can now say that with regards to infrastructure - roads, technical institutions, power - Bengal is ready to extend all help to industry houses," Chattopadhyay said at a programme of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BNCCI).

On the sidelines of the

programme, he said West Bengal is a power-surplus state where the demand does not cross the threshold limit of 8,500 mw daily.

On Bhangar sub-station project in South 24 Parganas where work was stopped by agitation by local people for over a year, Chattopadhyay said "It is a Power Grid Corporation project. Work for sub-station has started and all the complications have now been resolved."

He said the government was taking steps to stop power thefts and aim to generate additional 2,000 mw in the next five years from the thermal, hydel and non-conventional energy resources.

At the BNCCI event, its newly appointed president Satyam Roychowdhury said a delegation of the chamber would visit Russia by the end of this month to discuss business opportunities.