Delhi govt can shut down power plant only within PPA: Goyal

Amid Delhi deciding to shut down the Badarpur power station, Power Minister Piyush Goyal today said the state government is free to work within the framework of power purchase agreement (PPA) and with proper planning.
The minister said however that the Delhi government has not approached the Union Power Ministry or him on sorting out issues related to PPA for shutting down the Badarpur power plant, which is one of the measures being contemplated to curb the rising pollution in the national capital.
The sanctity of PPA needs to be respected, Goyal said adding that the Delhi government is free to work within that framework.

"It cannot shut down a power plant without proper planning," the minister said.
According to the information provided on NTPC's portal, Delhi is the sole beneficiary state of the plant, having installed capacity of 720 MW.
An expert said that besides the payment of fixed cost for shutting down the Badarpur plant, Delhi government would have to sort out other issues like the plan of islanding of the capital region.

Under the scheme which is to be completed, the national capital's power system will be isolated and not affected by a failure in the regional grid. Mumbai has such system in place.

On acceptability of UDAY scheme, meant for revival of debt stressed power distribution companies, Goyal said that most of the states will come on board by March next year.
As many as nine states have already communicated their willingness to join the scheme including Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir.
Exuding confidence about the revival of Indian economy, Goyal said that India will be bright spot in 2016 when most of the major economies facing serious challenges.