Congress seeks White Paper on power situation in state

Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 25

The Congress has sought a white paper on power situation in Punjab. It has accused the state government of encouraging private thermal power plant owners to “fleece” lakhs of consumers and forcing them to purchase the costliest power in the country.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, however, justified the government action saying the power from private plants was being purchased at rates fixed by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Congress legislature party leader Sunil Jakhar’s calling attention motion on excess payments being made to the owners of four private power plants at Rajpura, Talwandi Sabo and Goindwal Sahib sparked off a heated debate in the Vidhan Sabha. Jakhar alleged the government had “accorded pension” worth hundreds of crores to the owners of private power plants.