Haryana goverment responsible for power crisis in state, didn't enforce deal with private firm: Congress

Chandigarh: Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday alleged Haryana was facing a power crisis because the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government failed to enforce the power purchase agreement with a private company and is instead supplying nearly 114 lakh units per day to it. Surjewala, a former Haryana power minister, alleged that rural and urban consumers and the industrial sector have been hit hard because of the insufficient supply of electricity, with daily outages ranging from “12 to 20 hours”. Haryana Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala, however, dismissed the allegations of electricity export as “a bundle of lies”. “The Khattar government has miserably failed to secure even one megawatt of electricity out of the 1,424 MW supposed to be supplied by Adani Power, Mundra, Gujarat,” Surjewala told a news conference here. In a double whammy, the BJP government is supplying almost 114 lakh units of electricity per day to Adani Power in a reverse flow. At a first glance, it appears that not a single rupee is paid to Haryana’s exchequer in lieu of the electricity export to Mundra, he said. Surjewala asked if the people of Haryana are suffering “12 to 20 hours of exceptional power cuts” in scorching heat “to supply Haryana’s electricity to Gujarat because of the forthcoming elections in Gujarat?” He said that Haryana’s treasury is further bleeding as the government is purchasing electricity from other private companies at higher rates to meet the shortfall. Surjewala said that on 7 August, 2008, a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was signed by Power Utilities of Haryana with Adani Power for the supply of 1,424 MW of electricity for 25 years at a tariff of Rs 2.94/Kwh. A dedicated power line was also laid from the Adani Power Plant in Mundra to Mahendragarh in Haryana to supply the electricity, he said. “Instead of enforcing the PPA with Adani Power, which has failed to supply contracted power since last year, the Khattar government proceeds to sign a three-year contract (15 April 2022 to 14 April 2025) for the purchase of power from MB Power, Madhya Pradesh and RKM Power, Chhattisgarh for Rs. 5.70 and Rs. 5.75 per unit respectively,” he said. The data from the Northern Regional Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC) reflects that electricity is being sent from Mahendragarh to Mundra instead of the power flowing from Mundra to Mahendragarh, he added. Daily reports of the NRLDC from 9 April to 29 April reflect that Haryana’s electricity is going to Mundra in a reverse flow, Surjewala said, claiming no power was exported between 1 January, 2022, and 8 April, 2022. As much as 2,356.30 lakh units of electricity were exported from Haryana to Mundra between 9 April and 29, 2022, he said. A sample report of the Western Regional Load Despatch Centre dated 29 April establishes that there was an import of 11.49 MU (114.90 lakh units) to Mundra from Mahendragarh, he said. “It is a broad-daylight dacoity on the rights of the people of Haryana and it’s a loot of the public exchequer. It is an unpardonable crime when Haryana is facing a power crisis. The chief minister should come forward and answer,” Surjewala demanded. He said, “This (the PPA) is a legally enforceable right of Haryana and by foregoing that, this regime is destroying and compromising Haryana’s interests and the chief minister is accountable. Why is the Haryana government so helpless that it is not enforcing its contract?” Power Minister Chautala said Haryana’s share of electricity is not being sent anywhere. “In order to hide the internal strife within his party, Randeep Surjewala himself is caught in unrestrained statements made against the Haryana government through the media,” the minister said in an official statement. “Surjewala’s allegations of giving free electricity to Adani Power (in a reverse flow) is baseless and beyond facts,” he said, asserting that Haryana’s share of electricity is not being sent anywhere. Referring to the dedicated power line, Chautala said “the Mundra-Mahendergarh High Voltage Direct Current 500 kV line was replaced with a dedicated transmission line under orders of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission in 2013”. “It was converted into ‘Inter-State Transmission System’, after which the same order was approved by the Haryana cabinet on 14 May, 2014, when Randeep Surjewala was part of that cabinet during the Congress government,” he said. “During the Congress rule itself, the Mundra-Mahendergarh High Voltage Direct Current Line became a part of the ‘Inter-State Transmission System Network’ and all control was on the basis of ‘Regional Grid Stability’ of ‘National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC)’. “The NLDC is an independent body over which Haryana has neither administrative nor operational control,” he added. Chautala said the state government is committed to providing electricity to consumers as per their requirement.

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