New Delhi: Union Minister of Power, RK Singh refuted claims of coal shortage during an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat. Lashing out at Delhi's Kejriwal government and the Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) officials, he said they were ill-informed and tried to play politics out of a non-existent issue. Singh also held a meeting with officials of power ministry, TPDDL and the BSES at his residence to take stock of the situation on Sunday.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Singh said Kejriwal and some other opposition leaders were spreading rumours for political gains. "It is pure politics because he released the letter to PM in media even before the prime minister received it. I got information about the letter from Lieutenant Governor last evening. They don't even know the facts, so they should check out the facts first," said Singh.
Regarding looming power crisis in Delhi, Singh said that one of the gas-based plants situated in Bawana had some agreement with Gas Authority of India Limited which was not renewed. GAIL office sent a message to them warning that after a certain date the gas supply will be stopped, added Singh.
"Afterwards, the CEO of TPDDL got panicked and circulated a message that Delhi might have to face power cuts. This is nonsense, if one plant goes off, it does not mean that the power supply will get disrupted as we have enough stocks," said the Union Power Minister.
Singh called a meeting with the Chief Managing Directors of all the three companies working on power supply in Delhi. He also met CMDs of GAIL, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Secretary of Power and reviewed the situation. After more than an hour-long meeting, Singh briefed the media about the situation and assured that there was enough coal stock and there will be no disruption.
"I also pulled up the CMD of GAIL. If the contract with Delhi Government was not renewed they should have reminded them and not said about stopping the supply. The supply in the required quantity must continue to the states. He informed me that there was some shortage of domestic gas which can be covered with imports and I asked him to do so," said Singh. Further, Singh said that there is a reserve stock of four and a half-day being maintained to tackle any untoward situation or shortage.
"We get coal every day for our consumption and our consumption is about 1.75 million tonnes per day, which we get and sometimes excess is also supplied which goes to the reserve stock." He said that it is a normal cycle that we get supply, create reserve for the rainy season when there will be less supply as mines are mostly flooded. "The good thing is that the demand of power has increased because we have connected 28 million homes with electricity during Modi government tenure. Now they are buying electrical appliances and consuming power which is a great thing," said Singh.
Following the row, the newly appointed Punjab CM Charanjeet Singh Channi had complained about the shortage of coal supplies. Former power minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath also came to the forefront, saying that Madhya Pradesh is also on the brink of a power crisis if the supply. However, Singh rubbished Kamal Nath's claim and said that Madhya Pradesh has surplus power which they shared with some other states.
"Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee President should first check the facts and he should know that the state has surplus power and they sold 19 billion units in exchange. We are monitoring the situation and if any state needs more power they will get it. Even if Punjab needs more power they will get it. They needed more power during the rainy season and we had sufficient power available but they couldn't draw it because they had not build up their state transmission," said Singh.
Singh also took a jibe at both Punjab and Delhi governments and said that they should rather focus on building their capacity and keep the agreements renewed on time. "They should be ashamed of themselves. They don't do their work efficiently and then they complain," he concluded. Singh assured that there was enough supply of coal available for generating power and the timely supply to states will continue uninterrupted.
Also read: Ministry of Coal allays fears, assures sufficient coal stocks for power plants
