The state is currently having a direct shortfall of 300 MW, which has forced HPSEB to impose long power cuts on industrial consumers in Baddi-Barotiwala, Nalagarh, Kala Amb and Poanta areas. Board officials say if the things do not improve, the cuts will exceed 12 hours on the industry to make power available to domestic consumers.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today sent an SOS to the Centre, asking for additional power supply from the Centre's unallocated quota. Dhumal also spoke to his BJP counterpart in Chattisgarh, Dr Raman Singh, asking for at least 100 MW of power from the state to meet the shortfall.

But officials close to Raman Singh told The Indian Express that the Chief Minister had expressed his inability to bail out Himachal Pradesh at this juncture when Chhattisgarh was also facing a power shortage.

Later in the evening, state Chief Secretary Ravi Dhingra, who is also chairman of HPSEB, also contacted the Union Energy Secretary, asking for help in tiding over the crisis. "We are trying to buy power from some captive producers and TATA Energy in Maharashtra. The government will be buying power at the rate of Rs 7.56 per unit," said an HPSEB official.