Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann dedicate Goindwal Sahib power plant to people

Tarn Taran, February 11

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday dedicated the Sri Guru Amar Dass Thermal Plant to people.

After dedicating the plant to the masses, Mann and Kejriwal, addressing a well-attended gathering in Sheron, said it was clear that in the coming Lok Sabha poll, the party would win all seven seats in Delhi and 13 from Punjab.

A reverse trend

For the first time, a reverse trend has been witnessed in the state as the government purchased a private power plant, whereas in the past, the governments used to sell their assets to their favourite individuals at throwaway prices. —Arvind Kejriwal, AAP chief

Kejriwal said the state government had scripted a new success story by purchasing the Goindwal power plant owned by GVK Power at a cost of Rs 1,080 crore. For the first time, a reverse trend was witnessed in the state as the government purchased a private power plant whereas in the past, the governments used to sell their assets to the favourite individuals at throwaway prices.

This power plant is the cheapest purchase made by any state/private company as other power plants like Korba West, Jhabua Power and Lanco Amarkantak of 600 MW capacity have been purchased at Rs 1,804 crore, Rs 1,910 crore and Rs 1,818 crore.

The government had purchased the power plant at Rs 2 crore per MW. This is much less than other power plants whose acquisition had been made at Rs 3 crore per MW. The power plant had been renamed as Sri Guru Amardas Thermal Power Plant.

The available capacity of the power plant is 61 per cent whereas it was used only up to 34 per cent but now it will be run to 75-80 per cent, thereby augmenting the power generation in the state. As coal from Pachwara coal mine, allotted to Punjab, can be used only for government power plants, so with purchase of this plant, the coal can be utilised for producing power to provide it to every sector of the state.

It will help in reduction in overall tariff by over Rs 1 per unit and lead to savings of Rs 300-350 crore on power purchase, benefiting the consumers of the state.