Bill allowing Punjab Govt to scrap PPAs cleared

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 11

The Charanjit Channi government today claimed to have fulfilled an important promise made to the people of Punjab, during what is possibly the last session of the current Vidhan Sabha.

While the House passed a Bill, allowing the state government to terminate and re-determine power tariff paid to private power plants through power purchase agreements (PPAs), favouring companies, signed by the previous Akali BJP government, a “White Paper on Power Sector” was also tabled in the Assembly.

The White Paper, for the period between 2006-07 and 2020-21, highlights how the previous Akali-BJP government projected excess power demand at the time of calculating requirement of additional capacity of electricity in the private sector (calculated at 15,385 MW against demand of 11,917 MW) and how excess generation capacity was planned.

“Independent power producers were commissioned on a build, operate and transfer basis in 2006. But in 2007, the mode was changed to a build, operate and own basis, ensuring the private producers also got other assets from the government by changing the mode of construction and operation,” Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal told The Tribune.

The White Paper also mentions a lesser levelised tariff was arrived at by assuming high calorific value of coal, thus forcing the PSPCL to pay higher costs to power companies.

VB to probe pacts

The government will soon get all cases of graft and malpractices, including the PPAs, during the SAD-BJP regime probed by the Vigilance Department to fix the responsibility.