Govt will compensate farmers for setting up power towers, says Punjab CM Amarinder Singh

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said on Thursday that his government would soon introduce a policy for providing compensation to farmers whose land were used to set up towers by the Punjab State Transmission Corporation (PSTCL).

Speaking in the state Assembly, Amarinder Singh ordered compensation to farmers for land that falls under the transmission lines, since a large portion of 105 acres of land was used by the PSTCL. 

The Chief Minister also said the land under towers in the Bathinda district was not acquired as there was no restriction on agricultural activities under power lines. No such land would be acquired, he added.

Speaking of notice by Baljinder Kaur and Jai Krishan Singh Rori towards installing power poles in farms by PSTCL, Amarinder Singh assured that the farmers were being compensated for damage to crops as per the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885.

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Punjab to renegotiate power purchase with private firms

Amid mounting criticism over electricity charges, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday, February 17, said his government will renegotiate power purchase agreements with private players. While warning the private firms against "messing with state finances", the CM blamed the previous SAD-BJP government for the agreements, saying these were signed by them to "defraud" the state and its people.

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"Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said his government would renegotiate the power purchase agreements (PPAs), which the erstwhile Akali government had signed, to defraud the state and its people," a government statement said.

Given the shortfall in production by state-owned power plants in Lehra Mohabbat and Ropar, the CM said his government would work around the existing arrangements with the private players to make power affordable while ensuring that the peak demand of 13,000 MW was effectively met. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had planned to raise this issue in the budget session starting February 20.

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