Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday slammed the Haryana government, blaming it for the “power crisis” in the state and said people were suffering because of heavy load shedding. He further said besides farmers, the industrial sector especially in Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kundli, Faridabad, Gurugram and Manesar has been hit hard because of insufficient supply of electricity.
“Haryana at present is facing the worst ever power crisis because of a big gap between the demand and supply of electricity,” said Surjewala while addressing the media here. “People are suffering in the scorching heat with unprecedented power cuts of 12 hours or more every day,” he claimed.
He said the state was looking at a shortfall of 3,000 to 4,000 MW of power when the demand for electricity jumps to 12,000 MW between July and September. “Why the state has not been getting 1,424 MW of power from Adani Power Mundra and what action it has taken against the company for not supplying contracted power since 2021?” Surjewala asked the BJP-JJP government in Haryana.
He said the power purchase agreement between Adani Power and Haryana was signed in 2008 for the purchase of power at the rate of Rs 2.94 per unit. The senior Congress leader further accused the state government of buying short-term electricity at much higher rates, burdening the state exchequer. Surjewala further said the state government has decided to buy 500 MW of electricity for three years from two power supplying companies in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh at Rs 5.70 per unit Rs 5.75 per unit respectively.
“Why is the M L Khattar government not buying power at the risk and cost of private power generators, including Adani Power?” he asked. Surjewala said till 2014, Haryana was a power-surplus state. He also accused the Khattar government of not adding a single unit of power in the last eight years. A few days ago, Haryana's Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala had said there was no shortage of power in Haryana and the supply of electricity will be ensured even if the government has to purchase it at Rs 12 per unit from outside the state.
(With PTI inputs)
