Power rates may go up in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand is spending Rs 8,000-9,000 cr on purchase of power from open market

The Uttarakhand government is likely to increase electricity charges for the industry.

With the state facing four-eight million units of power shortage daily, Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), the sole power distribution company in the hill state, spends about Rs 9,000 crore every year to purchase power from open market at higher rates than it purchases from the state-run UJVN.

State Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said, “We are spending Rs  8,000-9,000 crore on purchase of power from open market. I have advised that there should be no curtailment of power in the state. When we purchase electricity from the market at higher rates, we can sell it to the industry at much higher rates.”

Since power shortage is a big issue in the hill state, the government is forced to purchase power from open market.

Addressing a gathering here on Sunday, BJP prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi said he favoured harnessing the potential of river water for generating power. The state government had scrapped many hydel projects on environmental and religious grounds.

Bahuguna claimed hydropower projects with a capacity of 2,424 Mw were scrapped by the previous BJP government. “All these power projects were scrapped during the BJP regime which otherwise could have started generating power by now,” he said.