Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar on Tuesday denied allegations that the government had withdrawn the scheme of providing 75 units of free power to poor SC, ST families.
The Minister told mediapersons in Bengaluru that the government had withdrawn only the circular related to the guidelines that had prescribed eligibility criteria for beneficiaries as it wanted to simplify them in a bid to increase the reach.
The new and simplified guidelines would be issued within two days, the Minister said, while declaring that the government was committed to implementing Amruth Jyothi scheme of providing 75 units of free power to poor families.
The Minister said some of the present guidelines regarding the eligibility for the scheme had come in the way of potential beneficiaries applying under the scheme. Only four lakh persons had applied under the scheme as against the estimated 39 lakh persons.
Mr. Kumar also denied another allegation that the government was about to install meters to the irrigation pump sets of farmers, besides reducing the number of units that can be used by them.
Taking exception to Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah levelling the above allegations, the Minister said it was not befitting of his position to make such charges without verifying facts.
Launching a counter-attack on him, the Minister said Mr. Siddaramaiah had failed to release ₹3,479 crore of subsidy to be paid by the government towards power consumption of IP Sets. He had also made Power Company of Karnataka Limited (PCKL) to borrow ₹5,500 crore towards the pending power bill dues of various government departments, he alleged.
Replying to questions, the Minister said he had accepted the challenge by Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar to order a probe into irregularities during the Congress regime if any. He said he was holding consultation with legal experts on how they could renegotiate high cost power purchase agreements signed during the previous dispensation. “We are looking at how to handle PPAs with more than ₹5 per unit,” he said.
Karnataka earns ₹5,875 cr. by selling surplus solar power
For the first time, Karnataka has earned ₹5,875 crore by selling surplus solar power.
Disclosing this to mediapersons here on Tuesday, Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar said Karnataka had sold 13,118 Million Units of surplus solar power this year to other States. “Since solar power is a day-time power when the demand is not huge, we were left with surplus quantum. Hence we decided to sell it,” he said.
He said the Energy Department had now taken up an initiative to build storage capacity for 50 MW of solar power in Pavagada so that it could be used even during night.
