States to be penalised for overdrawing power: Shinde

New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) States that overdraw power from the national transmission network would be penalised for the excess and their allotted quota would be reduced, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde warned here Tuesday.

Shinde was cautioning defaulting states at a media briefing after the largest power outage in India, that has affected 19 states. It was the second major breakdown within 36 hours of India's power grid, or the transmission network, this time affecting the north, east and the northeastern parts of the country.

The power minister said a probe had been ordered into the causes of the breakdown.

The minister's threat of penalising defaulting states was couched in the form of an appeal to them to not draw more than their allotted quota from the transmission system.

"States have been repeatedly informed not to take more power than their quota, and it is their ignoring of such requests that has brought on this crisis," Shinde said.

As regards the progress towards normalcy, the minister said that while the North and East sections had, respectively, regained 45 percent and 35 percent of supplies, 100 percent supplies had been resumed in the Northeast.