PROJECT TO HERALD OVERALL DEVELOPMENT IN AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
BADAL ASKS SECRETARY POWER TO TAKE UP THE MATTER WITH NTPC FOR FAST EXECUTION OF WORK ON GIDDREBAHA THERMAL PLANT
Chandigarh, October 6(Bharatsandesh news)- Taking a leap forward towards making Punjab a power surplus state, the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal today directed the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to expedite the process of setting up a new thermal power plant of 1320 MW capacity at Mukerian in Hoshiarpur district over an area of 900 acre involving an investment of nearly Rs 8000 crore.
Presiding over a meeting of the top brass of the state government and delegation of the PSEB Engineers Association, the Chief Minister said that keeping in view the huge demand of power in the current scenario concerted efforts were required for augmenting the power supply in the state, for which this project has been conceived by the POWERCOM. Mr Badal said with the work on Thermal Power projects at Talwandi Sabo (1980 Mega Watt), Goindwal Sahib (540 Mega Watt) and Rajpura (1400 Mega Watt) was already going on war footing and once the generation from these plants starts, the state would be able to get 3920 MW of additional power which would help the state to become self sufficient in power.
However the Chief Minister said that as the state government was vying to herald a new era of progress in the agriculture and industrial sectors, more power was required to achieve this gigantic task due to which need of the hour is to speed up the process of setting up public sector power plant at Mukerian. Mr Badal blamed the previous Congress government for not initiating any project for augmenting power generation and said our government had taken up several projects simultaneously which would change the entire power scenario in Punjab within next two years. Mr Badal said that had the Congress leaders acted wisely the power situation in the state would have been far better. He expressed hope that this power plant would be instrumental to cope up the power shortage across the state during the coming five years adding that only such pro-development decisions could take the state in the orbit of high growth trajectory because power was the key sector and the engine of overall growth.
Taking part in deliberations Secretary Power Mr Anirudh Tiwari apprised the Chief Minister that the POWERCOM had already cleared the proposal of setting up of this power plant in the recently concluded meeting of the board besides identifying the land where this proposed power plant would come up. Mr Tiwari further said that the modalities of land acquisition for this power plant would be finalized in coming few days soon after which the project would kick off.
Assuring full support and co-operation to the POWERCOM for setting up this project, the Chief Minister asked the engineer’s delegation to work with full dedication, commitment and zeal for the successful completion of this project at the earliest. Mr Badal called up the Hoshiarpur Deputy Commissioner to facilitate the POWERCOM in the process of land acquisition so that the work on this ambitious project could be started soon. However he categorically said that the acquisition of land must be done in accordance to the policy of the State government stipulating that not even an inch of land would be acquired without the express consent of the stakeholders.
Likewise the Chief Minister also directed Mr Anirudh Tiwari to take up the matter of expediting the work on construction of Thermal Power plant at Gidderbaha with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) on priority. Mr Badal said that with the commencement of both these projects Punjab would emerge as a major power generating state in the country.
Responding to the demand put forth by the PSEB Engineers Association regarding the implementation of the Tripartite Agreement between the Punjab government, management of two successor companies of erstwhile PSEB namely Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. (PSPCL), Punjab State Transmission Corporation Ltd. (PSTCL) and all the unions and associations of PSPCL and PSTCL, the Chief Minister assured the Engineers that the state government was committed to implement the terms and conditions of the agreement in the right earnest adding that any issue pertaining to the POWERCOM would be solved on its basis. He also directed the Chairman Cum Managing Director (CMD) of the POWERCOM Mr KD Chaudhary to ensure the reorganization of the POWERCOM along with updating its infra structure so as to sustain the efficiency of the corporation for providing better services to its consumers. Mr Badal also directed the CMD POWERCOM to draft the suitable posting policy for the POWERCOM officials so that the dictum of ‘Right Man at Right post’ could be aptly followed for optimum utilization of the manpower of the corporation.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Mr SK Sandhu, Secretary Power Mr Anirudh Tiwari, Special Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Mr Gaggandip Singh Brar and CMD POWERCOM Mr KD Chaudhary. The delegation of PSEB Engineers Association comprised Patron Mr HS Bedi, President Mr Baldev Singh Sra, General Secretary Mr Sanjeev Sood, Mr Bhupinder Singh, Mr HS Bansal, Mr SS Josan, Mr Rs Sarao, Mr HC Kamboj, Mr Karnail Singh and Mr Rakesh Gupta.
No.CMO-12/319
