Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday asked the Congress government to terminate the ‘faulty’ Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) by bringing a new law.
The PPAs were signed by the previous SAD-BJP government.
Mr. Sidhu urged the government to direct the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission to revise the tariff that is being paid to private power plants, which will make the PPAs “null and void”.
He demanded that the upcoming one-day special session of the Assembly should be extended by five to seven days to discuss burning issues of public interest. The Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Amaridner Singh, had recently decided to call the session for a day on September 3.
“The Punjab government must immediately issue directions to the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) in public interest to revise tariff being paid to private power plants making the faulty PPAs null & void … Further calling a 5-7 day Vidhan Sabha session to bring a new legislation for the termination of the faulty PPAs!!,” he said in a tweet.
Free power
“This will help the Punjab government give 300 units of free power to all domestic consumers including general category, decrease domestic tariff to ₹3 per unit & ₹5 per unit for industry, along with redressal of all outstanding bills, waiving off the unjustifiable & exorbitant bills.”
Pressure from within the party had been mounting on the government to cancel the PPAs, which was a key election promise during the 2017 Assembly polls.
