Chandigarh, Aug 30 (IANS) Time and again rapping his party's government in Punjab on the knuckles for its failure to provide free power up to 300 units to the domestic consumers, state Congress President Navjot Sidhu on Monday demanded to extend the one-day Assembly session to terminate the power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed with private companies.
"Punjab government must immediately issue directions to PSERC (Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission) in public interest to revise tariff being paid to private power plants making the faulty PPAs null and void. Further calling a five-seven day Vidhan Sabha Session to bring a new legislation for termination of faulty PPAs," Sidhu tweeted.
"This will help Punjab government give 300 units of free power to all domestic consumers, including general category, decrease domestic tariff to Rs 3 per unit and Rs 5 per unit for industry, along with redressal of all outstanding bills, waiving-off the unjustifiable and exorbitant bills," he added.
The government has decided to call a special session of the Vidhan Sabha for one day on September 3 to commemorate the historic 400th Prakash Purb of Guru Tegh Bahadur.
In his earlier tweets, Sidhu had blamed the PPAs that the previous government had signed with three private thermal power plants and said till 2020 Punjab had paid Rs 5,400 crore due to faulty clauses in these agreements. It is expected to pay Rs 65,000 crore of people's money just as fixed charges.
Favouring the need to set aside the PPAs, Sidhu had said the state can purchase power from the national grid at much cheaper rates. "But these Badal-signed PPAs are acting against Punjab's public interest. Punjab may not be able to re-negotiate these PPAs due to them having legal protection from honourable courts, but there is a way forward," he had said.
Manpreet Singh Chadha, the Vice-Chairman of the Wave Group, has been arrested in connection to a Rs 100 crore fraud case, a police officer said here on Thursday.
The three-time Bathinda Member of Parliament thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for fulfilling the promise made to the Sikh community by initiating the process of refunding the Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed on religious institutions.
India's decision to build its own space station is the next logical step after its human space mission Gaganyaan, former chiefs of Indian space agency said on Thursday.
There'll be no need for ashtrays in one Alberta town on the weekend if residents take up a retiring pharmacist's call for all smokers to butt out for 24 hours.
The Chief Minister was reacting to legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira's allegations that canals in the state would go dry as the Punjab government was releasing water to Pakistan.
