Amid possible power crisis in Rajasthan due to the depletion of coal stocks in the state, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday met his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel and said that if the latter does not extend help, there will be a "blackout" in the western bordering state of the country.
Addressing a joint press conference after the meeting, Gehlot said, "I appreciate Chief Minister Baghel. Environmental issues are of concern... If Chhattisgarh doesn't help us, there'll be a blackout in our state, our 4,500 MW power plants will shut down. I hope Chhattisgarh decides soon, as Rajasthan is worried."
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the government of India makes the allotment of coal to the states and added that the proceedings of the supply of coal will occur as per the guidelines.
"Rajasthan government expressed concern over the supply of coal... proceedings will occur as per guidelines. There'll be no compromise in Rajasthan's local environmental issues... the government of India decides allotment of coal," Baghel said.
The meeting took place at Baghel's residence which was attended by Rajasthan's energy minister also.
Gehlot had last months reached out to Coal India Ltd and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to expedite clearance from the Baghel government to secure coal from state-owned coal mines in Chhattisgarh.
In a letter dated February 10, Gehlot wrote to Gandhi saying that Rajasthan state may suffer power crisis due to outage of 4,340 MW power plant on the ground of non-availability of Parsa East & Kanta Basan (PEKB) Coal block in Surguja, Chhattisgarh, which was allotted by Ministry of Coal, Government of India to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (a State Government undertaking) for power generation.
( With inputs from ANI )
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