Amarinder Singh to announce legal strategy to counter power purchase agreement signed under SAD-BJP rule

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday said his government would soon announce its legal strategy to counter the Power purchase agreement (PPA), signed by the former SAD-BJP government, which had put an 'atrociously unnecessary financial' burden on the state.

During a meeting to review the power situation in the state, Singh said that a 'carefully charted' legal course of action was being formulated to save Punjab from further financial losses due to the 'ill-conceived PPAs signed by the Badals during their rule'.

"Of the 139 PPAs signed by the SAD-BJP Government, 17 were enough to cater to the state's full power demand. The remaining 122 for 1314 MWs of expensive power were inexplicably signed, putting unnecessary financial burden on the state," a statement quoted the Chief Minister.

Even as he appealed to the people to use power judiciously and cooperate with the government in overcoming the temporary shortage of power, the Chief Minister said against the supply of 13500 MW, the demand last week touched an unprecedented 16000 MW.

PSPCL started immediately purchasing 7,400 MW of power from outside the state, he said, adding that this was 1,000 MW more than what was purchased last year.

"Had the quantum of purchase not been promptly enhanced, the state would have faced an additional deficit of 1000 MW of power, further aggravating the crisis. The present crisis is the result of failure of one unit of the Talwandi Sabo Power Plant, generating 660 MW of power," he said.

While a notice had already been issued to the plant by PSPCL for imposing a heavy penalty, the state government had taken strong measures to address the power shortage. These measures, he said, included three weekly days off for the industry, including rolling mills and induction furnaces, from July 1 to 7.

Only essential services and continuous process industries have been exempted from these regulations. Further, the state government offices have also been directed to function from 8 AM to 2 PM till July 10, with use of air conditioners prohibited in these offices, the statement said.

Asserting his government's commitment to ensure that the situation is quickly eased, the Chief Minister said the power distribution system in the state had improved significantly over the past four years.

He informed that 2 lakh new Distribution Transformers have been installed, taking the total figure to 11.50 Lakh. Transformers have also been installed at the sub-stations to keep the supply stable.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited said that following the measures taken by the state government, eight hours of power is being supplied to all the agriculture consumers and there are also no scheduled power cuts on domestic, Commercial, Small and Medium Supply Industrial consumers in the state. The situation has improved considerably, he said.

On the availability of power from the Power Exchange, the spokesperson said the same was highly unpredictable, with even the rates varying, according to the time of the day, from Rs. 2.32/unit to Rs.10.00/ unit.

On the closure of Bathinda and Ropar Thermal Plants, the spokesperson said that the unit cost of power generated by these plants was high since these plant were of old design and required more manpower for operation. The maintenance cost of these plants was also very high, he added.

Earlier, several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers protesting near Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh's Siswan farmhouse against "power cuts" in the state were met with water cannons.

AAP Punjab chief Bhagwant Mann, MP, and Harpal Singh Cheema, MLA, were detained by Punjab Police from the protest site.

"The Chief Minister of Punjab is sleeping. We are here to wake him up. But our workers have been beaten. AAP criticises it. In a democracy, people have a right to protest but they are stopping us from protesting, it shows how powerful the electricity mafia is," MLA Harpal Singh Cheema told ANI.

( With inputs from ANI )

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