Chandigarh, April 5, 2021
Slamming Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh government for putting burden on the people by giving them costlier power, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stated that Captain Amarinder had promised to reduce power tariffs before the 2017 elections and the same Captain had raised power prices 14 times during his four-year rule. In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Monday, senior AAP leader and MLA Aman Arora said that Punjab has an abundant quantity of quality coal in its mines that could be used to generate cheaper power; but this relief was being denied to the consumers in the state. He said that the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) was suffering huge financial losses due to the gap between its expenditure and revenue earned.
“It is because Captain has failed as a Chief Minister and has not done anything for the state, to make it prosperous. The conventional parties in power in Punjab from time to time had bankrupted the PSPCL,” said Arora. He said that the Congress, SAD-BJP had put a well-earned institution on the brink of bankruptcy today, thus pushing the state into a debt trap, by putting its own interests first. For 2019-20, it incurred an expenditure of Rs 34,813 crore for supplying 57,140 million units of electricity and earned a revenue of Rs 31,809 crore, leaving a gap of Rs 3,004 crore. Arora said that as per some details, PSPCL, on an average spent Rs 7.08 on every unit sold and earned a corresponding revenue of Rs 6.47, incurring a loss of 61 paise on every unit sold to the consumer. He said that with such conditions, year after year, the utility was being pushed into a debt trap; but Captain Amarinder Singh government had not initiated any measure to manage it.
“Despite having power generation in Punjab, there is the most expensive power supply in the state as compared to other states, and the debt burden is also increasing due to non-payment by the PSPCL. For this, the Captain government is now putting more burden on the consumers, thus strangling them. It is because of Captain and Badals wrong policies, that are costing consumers and PSPCL dear,” said Arora. He further said that Punjab owns a coal mine in Paku district of Jharkhand from which about 52 million tonnes was extracted from 2005 to 2015 for use at the three state thermal plants of Bathinda, Ropar and Lehra Mohabbat. “However, last year, the state plants generated only 1,967 million units of electricity, contributing a meagre 3% share,” he added. Arora further said that the share of power purchase has risen to more than 80% and Rs 22,350 crore was spent on it last year.
Arora said that the Captain government was giving more leeway to private thermal plants to become the primary producers of electricity in the state, thus shutting down the state thermal plants. Taking a dig at Captain Amarinder Singh, Arora said that Captain, who formed the government by promising to issue white paper on power purchase agreements entered into with private power plants by Badals; had so far failed to do so. “Why Captain could not present white paper so far on faulty power purchase agreement signed by Sukhbir Badal,” he said, adding that the Congress government of the state, following the footsteps of Badals, had continued the process of shutting down the government power plants in the state and procuring expensive power from the projects of corporate houses.
Arora said that on one hand Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal government was providing free power to its people by purchasing power and on the other hand the Captain government of the state where power was being generated was providing power to the people at the most expensive rates. He further said that the Captain government was wasting three resources of cheaper coal, trained thermal manpower and capital from sale proceeds of generation assets. He appealed to the people that whenever the Congress, BJP and SAD come to seek votes, they should be held accountable for all the harassment and burden and should be asked about the expensive electricity.
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