New Delhi: The ongoing Punjab Congress feud does not seem to end anytime soon as its disgruntled leader Navjot Singh Sidhu launched a fresh attack against Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh for what he termed as mishandling the power crisis in the state even as Punjab ends up in paying more per unit than other states. This comes a day after the chief minister has ordered curtailment in timings of state government offices, and cutting down of power supply to high energy-consuming industries with immediate effect, to save crops and ease the domestic power situation.
On to the announcement made by Punjab government, Sidhu tweeted, "Truth of Power Costs, Cuts, Power Purchase Agreements & How to give Free & 24 hour Power to the People of Punjab:- 1. There is No need for Power-Cuts in Punjab or for the Chief Minister to regulate office timings or AC use of the Common People ... If we Act in the right direction."
"2. Power Purchase Costs - Punjab is buying Power at average cost of Rs. 4.54 per unit, National Average is Rs. 3.85 per unit & Chandigarh is paying Rs. 3.44 per unit. Punjab’s over-dependence on 3 Private Thermal Plants at Rs. 5-8 per unit makes Punjab pay more than other states," he further added.
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The chief minister on Thursday had appealed to all government offices to make judicious use of electricity, as peak demand in the state had touched 14,500 MW. However, no decision on ban on the use of ACs in government offices is being made, which will function from 8 am-2 pm till further orders.
Mentioning about the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), Sidhu alleged that the Badal government signed PPAs with three private thermal power plants in Punjab and till 2020 Punjab has already paid 5,400 crore due to faulty clauses in these agreements and is expected to pay 65,000 crore of Punjab people’s money just as fixed charges.
He asserted, "Punjab can purchase power from the national grid at much cheaper rates, but the Badal-signed PPAs are acting against Punjab’s public interest. The state may not be able to re-negotiate these PPAs as they are having legal protection from hon’ble courts, but there is a way forward."
Sidhu suggested that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha can bring in new legislation with retrospective effect to cap power purchase costs to prices available on the national power exchange at any given time and thus by amending the law, these agreements will become null and void, saving Punjab’s people money.
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The Congress leader claimed that Punjab’s revenue per unit of consumption is one of the lowest in India, due to gross mismanagement of the complete power purchase and supply system, PSPCL pays Rs. 0.18 per unit “extra” on every unit supplied, even after receiving over Rs 9,000 crores as subsidy from the state.
Sidhu went on to add, "Renewable energy is becoming cheaper along with being environmental-friendly, but Punjab’s potential from solar and biomass energy remains unutilised even though central financial schemes can be availed for these projects. PEDA spends its time just on energy efficiency awareness."
He said in his tweet, "Punjab already gives 9,000 crore power subsidy but Delhi gives only 1,699 crore as power subsidy. If Punjab copies Delhi Model, we will get merely 1,600-2,000 crore as subsidy. To better serve the People of Punjab - Punjab needs an Original Punjab Model, Not a copied Model!!"
"Punjab Model for Power - Money spent on giving unreasonable & exuberant profits to private thermal plants should be utilised for welfare of people i.e giving power subsidy for Free Power for Domestic use (upto 300 Units), 24 hours supply & to invest in Education & Healthcare," Sidhu added.
Making these announcements, Captain had asserted that farmers were losing precious paddy transplantation time due to the power breakdowns, and therefore he made it clear that the agriculture sector needed to be prioritized for uninterrupted power supply.
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