Tewari: Power crisis, so how sale to Pak?
Saturday, 14/12/2013
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=89070&boxid=58305&uid=&dat=2013-12-14
Ludhiana : Raising a question mark over the state government’s move to sell electricity to Pakistan, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Friday said it was strange that the Akali-BJP government was trying to illuminate Lahore while Punjab continues to remain enveloped in darkness due to massive power shortage.
Reacting to reports that the state government was planning to sign a power-sale agreement with West Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Tewari wondered from where Punjab would get the power to export to Pakistan since the state during the peak demand was still short of about 6,000 MW.
“Even when all the power plants get fully operational, the state will still be short of about 4,000 MW,” he claimed, while questioning the logic of exporting power under such circumstances.
“Just because the state government has inaugurated two units in two thermal plants at Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo, generating 1,300 MW more, does not mean that the state is power sufficient, leave aside being power surplus. Punjab has a long way to go before it can be self-sufficient in power production,” he added.
Tewari said the total availability of power in the state from all sources was not more than 8,000 MW, compared with the peak demand of 14,000 MW.
