Sunil Jakhar questions Punjab govt ‘largesse’ to pvt power plants

Continuing his tirade against the Punjab government’s alleged largesse to private power plants, Congress chief spokesperson Sunil Jakhar on Sunday said the state was paying more to these plants despite getting cheaper electricity from outside the state.
“The government is buying 8,417 million units Rs 2.68 per unit under excess power purchase for energy balancing though the state is power surplus. The Punjab government paid Rs 2,257 crore 2016-17 to buy power from outside. The same year, the state government paid Rs 7.15 per unit to buy 3,236 million units from the Talwandi Sabo plant at a cost of Rs 2,347 crore and 7,364 million units from the Rajpura plant at Rs 4.10 per unit costing Rs 3,015 crore. In case of the Goindwal plant, the state spent Rs 413 crore from its kitty without buying a single unit,” Jakhar said, addressing a press conference.
He alleged the state government had done nothing in past one-and-half years to get its coal mine in Jharkhand operational. “The coal prices are surging globally and have shot up in 2015-16. Yet, the coal mine of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) remains nonoperational. The PSPCL has submitted that price of coal can go further up and an escalation of 5% has been considered over the price in first half of 2015-16. Why is the government not working on getting its captive coal mine operational? Why are the people of Punjab being made to shell out more money for the follies of the government and deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal’s claim to make Punjab power surplus?” he questioned