Highly placed GEB sources told Express Newsline on Thursday that the farm sector would now get power for 16 hours instead of 14. The power demand, which is usually around 5,400 MW, increased to 6,300 MW in the past week, a senior Board official said on condition of anonymity. This is apparently because farmers are operating pumps for longer periods of time.

The farm sector consumes 40 per cent of the total quantum of electricity generated.

Officials claimed that the Board was monitoring the situation and that there would be no power cuts on any sector, including the industrial and domestic ones.

To make up for the shortfall resulting from the diversion of more power to the farm sector, the GEB has started tapping around 100 MW of electricity from the captive power plants of Reliance and Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited.

The official said that to be on the safe side, the Board had also sounded out Indian Oil Corporation and ONGC -- both of which have captive power plants -- as power sources.

He said the GEB would get some respite when the Gujarat Torrent Electricity Company, an IPP, starts functioning to full capacity in the next few days. Board sources said that the plant was currently generating only 200 MW electricity, against its installed capacity of 600 MW, as certain parts were being repaired.

They said the GEB had also started drawing around 200 MW to 500 MW more than its quota of 1,300 MW power from the Central sector. The official said that more power could be also drawn from the Southern sector.

Sources said that as a precautionary measure, the GEB had, for the time being, decided to defer repairs of its power-plants, which would necessitate shutdowns.