Punjab govt may take major steps in power sector; may terminate, renegotiate PPA’s
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
As per available information, Punjab government is going to terminate the power purchase agreement with one of the three private power generators, renegotiate with one and penalized the other largest private power generator of the state.
As per sources the power department is under pressure to act tough against the three major private power generators- Mansa based Talwandi sabo power limited (TSPL) of Vedanta group, GVK at Goindwal sahib (Tarn Taran) and Rajpura based Nabha Power Limited (NPL) of L&T group for costly power purchase agreement done by SAD-BJP government.
A senior functionary of the powercom on the condition of anonymity said “ the state government is planning to terminate the PPAs as they did in terminating the water bill. The officers are working overnight to draft the bill so that they can table it, at the earliest in the cabinet meeting. If all goes well it can be tabled in the upcoming November 8 schedule cabinet meeting. “
As per sources “the state government may terminate the PPA with GVK, re-negotiate the price with Rajpura based Nabha Power Limited (NPL) of L&T group and penalized the power generator of the state Talwandi sabo power limited (TSPL) of Vedanta group, as the functioning of this power plant is not satisfactory. State government and PSPCL have to face the backlash, as TSPL fails to generate required power in the most crucial period –paddy season.”
Another powercom official on the condition of anonymity said “ if Punjab goes with the renegotiation process than it will become the another state after Gujrat. Despite the objections raised by the independent power producers (IPPs), the Gujarat government had revised the power purchase agreements (PPAs) with them.Although the PPAs were signed for a period of 20 years, the government has revised them in less than 10 years.
“The Gujrat government in 1994 had signed PPAs with the five IPPs for 20 years. The companies are supplying electricity to the GEB at higher rates but during renegotiation, they have agreed to supply electricity to Gujrat Electricity Board (GEB) at cheaper rates,” said the source.
When contacted the PSPCL CMD A Venu Prasad, he was busy in a meeting. As per sources he might be busy with the Union Power Minister RK Singh, who is on a two day visit to Punjab.
When contacted the director generation Er Paramjit Singh on the issue that “Punjab govt may take major step in power sector; may terminate, renegotiate PPA’s ” he feigned ignorance about any such move by the state government.
October 29,2021
