Hyderabad, Telangana's Energy Minister G. Jagdish Reddy on Sunday said that switching off lights across the country for nine minutes from 9 pm on Sunday, as called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, posed no risk to the power grid.

"The talk that something will happen to the grid because of this is mere rumour," Reddy said, pointing out that people usually switch off lights before going to sleep.

The minister said Telangana Electricity Department had taken necessary precautions for the nine-minute event, pointing out that every day the power demand comes down between 10 pm and 6 am.

The Prime Minister has called upon people to switch off the lights and light candles and earthern lamps on Sunday night as a mark of solidarity in the fight against Covid-19.

Reddy clarified that street lights and lights in all government and private institutions offering emergency services were exempted from the PM's appeal. "During these nine minutes only the lights will be switched off while other appliances will remain in use."

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao also held a review meeting over this and gave necessary directions.

Meanwhile, Chairman and Managing Director of Telangana Transmission Corporation and Telangana Generation Corporation D. Prabhakar Rao said the power utilities were fully geared up to manage the grid frequency.

He said necessary steps had been taken to address sudden fluctuation in demands during the nine-minute period and after the event.

The authorities estimate that the load shedding during the period could be in the range of 500 MW and 700 MW. They said they were prepared to manage the demand slump even up to 1,100 MW.

The CMD said a special monitoring cell has been constituted to manage the demand variation and to ensure smooth and safe operation of the grid.