Power starved Punjab planning to 'illuminate' Lahore: Tewari

Union minister Manish Tewari today questioned the Punjab government's reported move to sell power to Pakistan, saying the Akali-BJP government was trying "to illuminate Lahore" while the state was facing massive power shortage.
"It is strange that the Akali-BJP government in Punjab is trying to illuminate Lahore while Punjab continues to remain enveloped in darkness due to massive power shortage," he said.
The Union Information and Broadcasting Minister was reacting to media reports that Punjab government was mulling signing an agreement with Pakistan's Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for selling power.
Tewari questioned from where Punjab will get the power to export it to Pakistan, as the state, during the peak demand, was still short of about 6,000 MW.

"Even when all the power plants get fully operational, Punjab will still be short of about 4,000 MW power," he claimed.
"Just because the state government has inaugurated two units in two thermal plants at Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo generating 1,300 MW more does not mean the state is power sufficient, leave aside being power surplus so that it can export it," he observed, while adding, Punjab has a long way to go before it could even be self sufficient in power production.
The Minister also claimed that the industry during the peak demand was subjected to four-day power cuts in a week.

Tewari pointed out that even in the agriculture sector the state was not able to supply the promised eight hour power. Besides, he added, there was no end to the unscheduled power cuts in Punjab during last year.