Cancel or revisit 'one-sided' power pacts, orders Punjab CM
Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Jul, 2021 01:32 PM
Chandigarh, July 28 (IANS) Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) to cancel or revisit all the "one-sided" pacts with private companies that are not contractually obligated to supply sufficient power to meet the state's peak demand during the paddy sowing and summer season.
Taking serious note of the fiasco relating to Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL) -- one of the largest private thermal plants in the state, he directed the PSPCL to revoke its power purchase agreement (PPA), "which is heavily biased in favour of the company".
He asked the PSPCL to examine all the PPA) signed by the previous SAD-BJP government with the various independent power producers , which were established basically to meet the power demands of the state, especially during paddy sowing and summer season, and terminate or revisit "all lopsided PPAs that are not beneficial to the state".
The Chief Minister noted that PSPCL had signed 14 PPAs with thermal or hydro and 122 long-term PPAs with solar and biomass plants after 2007, to make the state power surplus with generation capacity of around 13,800 MW.
However, in the current paddy season, all three units of the TSPL failed to generate power for a few days.
One unit of the TSPL failed completely to operate from March and two units remained out of power generation for the last one month, he said.
At present, only one unit of the TSPL is operational, he said, adding that these factors have caused a huge power shortage in the state.
The PSPCL has already issued notice to the TSPL by imposing a penalty but, "as the PPAs are one-sided, the penalty imposed will be very meager in comparison to the losses caused by the failure of these thermal plants".
Further, as per the provisions of the PPAs, at present, it is not compulsory for the IPPs to supply power during peak summer or paddy period. Hence, taking advantage of the loopholes, the IPPs are claiming full fixed charges from the PSPCL by supplying power in the off-season when the state requires it the least.
The Chief Minister pointed out that to meet the deficit resulting from the failure of the TSPL, with a capacity of 1,980MW, to meet the state's critical power requirement in the ongoing season, the PSPCL had to purchase short-term power from the Power Exchange.
The PSPCL had procured 271 crore units of power in June and July by spending Rs 886 crore.
Balwant Singh Rajoana, the death row convict in the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh assassination case, on Friday ended his hunger strike in the Patiala central jail following a meeting with the SGPC chief.
The local police on Wednesday arrested a 36-year-old pastor from the Delhi airport on a charge of raping a woman follower, making a video of the act and then blackmailing her by threatening to upload the video on social networking sites.
The Union Territory of Chandigarh—the joint capital of Haryana and Punjab—remains one of the most contentious and long-standing issues between the two neighbouring states.
The home minister also asserted that the government is committed to providing justice to the aggrieved Sikh community, which suffered the most during 1984 carnage.
Built on a Public-Private Partnership model, Akshaya Patra combines good management, innovative technology, and smart engineering to deliver nutritious and hygienic school lunch on every school day.
