Congress opposes PPA with Chattisgarh
Hyderabad, Feb 11 (INN): Leader of Opposition in Telangana State Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has opposed the purchase of 1,000 MW from Chattisgarh.
In his representation made with the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission on Thursday, Shabbir Ali said that the PPA would be operational only after three years and would be valid for 12 years. He said that the State Government has been making claims that Telangana would be a power surplus State by 2018. "Why a power surplus State needs to buy additional energy from a neighbouring State?" he asked.
Shabbir Ali said that installed capacity of thermal power stations in the State would reach 4085 MW by April, which includes 600 MW from Bhupalapalli and 1200 MW Jaypore thermal power stations. Hydel power will increase the generation up to 6,166 MW while the government is aiming to generate 2,000 MW solar power by this year end. Therefore, as against the demand of about 8,000 MW, Telangana will have 9,166 MW power, as per the claims of State Government itself.
The Congress leader said that the State Government was proposing to increase the power generation from present 4,320 MW to 23,675 MW by the end of 2018. "In this scenario, there is no need to procure power from CSPDCL by putting additional burden on consumers. The State Government has repeatedly assured that Telangana itself will produce 20,000 MW in three years. But this PPA is for 12 years and its commencement will be after these three years. The Wardha-Maheshwaram or Angur-Palasa transmission lines are not in place and there is still no clarity on the dates of completion. The Grid is expected to be completed not earlier than 2018. Therefore, it will not be advisable for a power surplus state to buy 1,000 MW power at an exorbitant price, especially at a time when the State itself would be in a position to sell surplus power," he said.
Further, Shabbir Ali said that the PPA was in violation to the National Electricity Policy and National Tariff Policy which envisages procurement of electricity only through competitive bidding while the PPA has been entered into through MoU route. Therefore, he said that the between Chattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited (CSPDCL) and TSDISCOMS (TSSPDCL & TSNPDCL) could be avoided.
News Posted: 11 February, 2016
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