Despite the Gujarat government having its own power plant, the government is buying power from private entities, including Adani, at higher tariff rates. These allegations were jointly levelled by Congress MLAs Shailesh Parmar and Arjun Modhwadia on the ruling BJP in the House, on Saturday.
In reply, the government maintained that only 15% power was purchased from Adani and other companies in the last two years. The note further clarified that installed power capacity of conventional sources was 21,114MW, and of non-conventional energy sources 8,292MW.
Modhwadia further charged the state with “keeping its power stations closed to private players. Gujarat currently has 16 power stations, of which the government shut down seven. The remaining nine are running at 50 percent capacity.” He instanced: “The Ukai thermal power plant has a capacity of 1,110MW but it has been producing 470MW of power.”
He underlined that the Congress government had built power plants for power generation. “By keeping these power stations closed, the BJP government buys electricity from private companies at high prices. In the end, it is the consumer who pays the price,” Modhwadia stated.
Refuting the charges, party spokesperson Rishikesh Patel said that power purchase was outsourced after a systematic process involving bidding. “The government signed an agreement to buy power the company which provides cheap electricity. All power stations of the government are working at optimal capacity and being renovated from time to time,” he argued.
Patel also attributed the rising tariffs to the Russia-Ukraine war: “There been a global shortage of coal and a related increase in gas prices through 2021. However, the Gujarat government has worked to ensure uninterrupted supply of 24-hour electricity for farm and domestic use. Only 15 per cent of the power is bought from private power producers.”
Also Read: Despite GIFT City Banking Assurances, Indian Startups Wary; Only 20% Funds Wired Back
