Mohali MC gets Rs 5 crore as first instalment from PSPCL

Mohali, July 1

The cash-starved Mohali Municipal Corporation got the first instalment of Rs5 crore from Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) out of the total arrears of Rs30 crore excise duty collected by the Power Department.

After handing over the cheque to the civic body, Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said the Mohali Municipal Corporation owes arrears of excise duty to the Power Department for several years amounting to over Rs30 crore.

He said no effort was made to get the money released from the Power Department. The remaining amount would continue to reach the corporation in monthly instalments, which would be used for the development of the city.

Mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu, Senior Deputy Mayor Amrik Singh Somal, Deputy Mayor Kuljeet Singh Bedi and MC Commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg were also present.

Balbir Singh Sidhu also released two fogging machines on the occasion.

In another important announcement, Sidhu said GMADA would reimburse 25 per cent of the expenditure incurred by the Mohali Municipal Corporation on development works every year and a decision in this regard had been taken in the meeting with the Chief Minister.

He said some villages, including Balongi, Barmajra and Balyali, had been included in the Municipal Corporation limits. Some major sectors of the city had also been taken under the purview of the Municipal Corporation.

Describing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s promise of providing 300 units of electricity free in Punjab as an election stunt, he said it was wrong to compare the state with Delhi. Punjab was an agriculture-oriented state, while there was no agriculture in Delhi. No agricultural subsidies were given there. — TNS

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