Punjab Power Minister Harbhajan Singh on Wednesday met Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi and Union Power Minister R K Singh in the national capital to discuss the ongoing coal crisis and power-related issues in Punjab.
During the meeting, the Punjab Power Minister said that the state witnesses maximum power demand during paddy season and they have to run all the units of thermal power stations under the state sector to meet the increased power demand.
He stated that the maximum demand is likely to exceed 15,000 MW in the ensuing paddy season.
The Punjab minister also raised concern over the issue of the supply of fewer coal rakes in comparison to the allocations made by the Sub-Group Committee on Coal to the State Sector Plants as well as the Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
Harbhajan Singh requested the Union Coal Minister to allocate 20 lakh MT of additional coal for state sector plants and transfer 30 lakh MT of coal from PSPCL to IPPs namely Nabha Power Ltd. (NPL) and Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd. (TSPL) under 'Flexibility Policy' during the paddy season-2022, a Punjab government release read.
He requested the Union Power Minister to allocate 1500 MW power to Punjab on an urgent basis from the Central Sector Generating Stations in order to provide uninterrupted 8 hours of power supply to the agriculture sector and uninterrupted power supply to other consumers in Punjab.
The Union Power Minister assured that he would look into the matter and provide sufficient quantity of unallocated power to Punjab.
The Punjab Minister also took up the matter regarding Bhakhra Beas Management Board with Union Power Minister.
( With inputs from ANI )
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