Thiruvananthapuram | The Keralam government is taking steps to address the power shortage in the state and aims to bring in additional electricity and resolve the situation by around September 15, Chief Minister V D Satheesan said here on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference after chairing the Cabinet meeting here, Satheesan said the state has been facing a shortage of electricity amid a sharp rise in consumption, poor rainfall and inadequate inflows into dams.

The situation has also made it difficult to procure power from neighbouring states, particularly during peak hours.

Satheesan said the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government had entered into a long-term power purchase agreement under which electricity was available at around Rs 4.29 per unit, but the agreement was later cancelled by the previous Left government.

"If the agreement had continued, this situation would not have arisen. The Congress-led government had taken that decision anticipating such a situation," he said.

After the agreement was cancelled, the state is now being forced to purchase electricity at much higher rates, with the cost going up to around Rs 10 per unit, he said.

"There has been a situation where adequate power is not available. There are problems in several places," Satheesan said, adding that drought-like conditions and reduced power generation in southern states had made it difficult to procure electricity from outside the state.

The government, however, was making all possible efforts to ensure uninterrupted power supply without putting an excessive financial burden on consumers, he said.

"With electricity consumption having increased so much, our main objective is to bring in additional power and find a solution to the present power shortage by around September 15," the Chief Minister said.

He said the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) would be given instructions to take all necessary steps on a war footing to address the crisis.