PSEB purchases power worth Rs 6,000 cr

The Punjab State Electricity Board has bought power worth Rs 6000 crore in 2007-08 thus earning the doubious distinction of being the country's largest electricity buyer.    
The board's power purchase has increased from three to four times since 2004-05.     The board has bought power worth Rs 6,000 crore in 2007- 08, compared to power purchases of Rs 2,230 crore in 2004-05.     

Sources said today the costly power purchases are the results of "ill advised policy" by bureaucrats to go for power purchase instead of adding generation capacity in the state.     

The respective governments ignored the professional advice of power engineers 'to add at least 500 Mw generations annually'.    

The bureaucrats in the state government had reportedly advised that "it shall be cheaper to buy power from national grid than to generate it in the state of Punjab".      A senior PSEB officer said although the present plan to add about 9,500 Mw of generation capacity in Punjab is late by a decade but this is a welcome step.     

This addition constitutes 6,480 Mw power through coal- based thermal plants in private sector. The proposed thermal plants are to be constructed at Talwandi Sabo (capacity 1980 Mw, Rajpura (capacity 1320 Mw), Gidderbaha (capacity 2640 Mw), and Goindwal Sahib (capacity 540 Mw).     

The government also plans to execute 500 Mw extension projects one each at Bathinda and Lehra Mohabbat departmentally.