Chavan writes to PM on power crisis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to resolve the ongoing power crisis in the state.

Chavan said the power crisis was affecting at least five states in the country, necessitating larger consultations and involvement of the central government in resolving the issue.

He said competive bids had been invited from private parties to generate electricity, but since the bids were finalised, there have been very serious issues regarding availability of fuel (to generate power).

"Legal challenges have emerged due to change in laws that have led to disputes arising out of the power purchase agreement that were executed.

"As a result of these disputes, private generators have expressed inability to continue with the operation," Chavan wrote in the letter.

This has led to large scale load shedding across Maharashtra and with the ongoing 11-day Ganeshotsav festival, the problem has become more acute.

On its part, Chavan said, the state government has been in discussion with private power producers since almost two years to hammer out a solution.

He held a meeting Aug 30 here with union Minister of State for Power Piyush Goyal along with Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar to find a solution to the crisis.

"During the meeting, it was felt that in view of the magnitude of the problem and its national ramification, the matter needs to be resolved at the highest level," he said.

Chavan urged Modi to convene a meeting of the chief ministers of the concerned states to enable an early solution to the problem.

The chief minister's plea to Modi came three days after he accused the central government of denying adequate power to the state from the central resources, while launching the Congress poll campaign here.