Punjab Power Minister Harbhajan Singh on Wednesday met Union Coal and Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi and sought additional coal rakes for thermal power stations in the state during the peak paddy season, which sees high electricity demand.
He also met Union Power Minister R K Singh and sought more allocation of power for the state due to peak season demand. He also discussed the concerns of the state over the ongoing coal crisis and the power-related issues of Punjab.
During the meeting, the Punjab power minister stated that the state witnesses maximum power demand during the paddy season and they have to run all the units of thermal power stations under the state sector to meet the increased power demand.
Further, he said the maximum demand is likely to exceed 15,000 MW in the ensuing paddy season. He also raised concerns over the issue of the supply of fewer coal rakes in comparison to the allocations made by Sub-Group Committee on Coal to the State Sector Plants as well as the Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
He requested the Coal Minister to allocate 20 lakh MT additional coal for State Sector Plants and 30 Lakh MT of coal to be transferred from PSPCL to IPPs namely Nabha Power Ltd. (NPL) and Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd. (TSPL) under ‘Flexibility Policy’ during the paddy season-2022.
He also requested the Coal Minister for the supply of at least 19 rakes of coal daily to Punjab to meet the day-to-day demand.
Harbhajan Singh also met R K Singh and discussed power-related issues of Punjab. He informed the Union Power Minister that due to the ongoing country-wide coal crisis, the power plants in the State of Punjab will face an acute shortage of coal during the forthcoming Paddy Season-2022.
He requested the Union Power Minister to allocate 1,500 MW power to the State of Punjab on an urgent basis from the Central Sector Generating Stations in order to provide uninterrupted 8 hours of power supply to Agriculture Sector and uninterrupted power supply to other consumers in Punjab.
The Punjab Cabinet Minister also took up the matter regarding Bhakhra Beas Management Board with Union Power Minister.
