Punjab power crisis: Congress MP says state govt's PPA review decision 'extremely delayed'

Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa on Sunday said that Punjab government’s decision to review the power purchase agreements (PPAs) is extremely delayed. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday, July 3, had announced that the PPAs signed during the SAD-BJP regime will be reviewed. The Congress MP said that while the review was absolutely necessary, however, emphasised that the delay was uncalled for.

Pratap Singh Bajwa criticises CM's announcement over the Punjab power crisis

Partap Singh Bajwa released a statement claiming that the review plan of the government was long overdue. He claimed that the government had over four years to look at the issue. Bajwa, who has been a critic of Amarinder Singh’s government also said that the government must reach a ‘suitable conclusion’ soon to ensure that the people of Punjab are no longer ‘cheated’ by the agreement.

Bajwa, in the statement, said, “The statement made by the Chief Minister of Punjab that the state government is reviewing the ill-conceived PPAs signed by the previous SAD-BJP government is extremely delayed but absolutely necessary. These PPAs have been an albatross hanging around Punjab’s neck, bleeding the state exchequer dry.”

Criticising the government for the delay, the MP said, “The government has had over four years to focus on this issue. A suitable conclusion must be reached to ensure that the people of Punjab are no longer cheated by these agreements. I must further point out that the Government of Punjab had promised a white paper on the issue in March 2020. Nearly 16 months later, no such information has been released by the state.”

Bajwa also said that the state government must look into remapping their already existing subsidies. He claimed that the state should ensure 300 units of free power for every household. Interestingly, the criticism from Pratap Singh Bajwa regarding the delay in review comes as the Congress government had offered to renegotiate the existing PPAs before coming to power in 2017.

Amarinder Singh's statement on the Punjab power crisis

On Saturday, Captain Amarinder Singh announced that his government will soon announce a legal strategy to counter the “ill-conceived” PPAs. He said that the agreement signed during the SAD-BJP rule had put an “atrociously unnecessary” financial burden on the state. Captain Amarinder, in his statement, claimed that out of the 139 PPAs signed during the SAD-BJP rule, only 17 were enough to cater to the state’s full electricity demand. He accused the remaining 122 PPAs of being a financial burden.

IMAGE: ANI