AAP announces Punjab free power eyeing Himachal polls
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AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal (file photo)
Chandigarh: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Punjab government on Saturday announced 300 units of free power in the state. In India, Punjab has the costliest power supply, and it has severe issues with problematic Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), The Indian Express reports.
AAP makes the major announcement while neighbouring Himachal Pradesh (HP) heads to polls later this year and aims that the HP CM Jai Ram Thakur announced 125 free units of power a day ago.
In June last year, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal promised 73.80 lakh power consumers in Punjab 300 units of free power if the party gets voted to power. At that time, incumbent CM Amrinder Singh was struggling to roll out the promised cheap power along with the termination of PPAs.
Though a Congress high command panel proposed an agenda before Amarinder to provide free 300 units of power, he responded that it was not doable. When Charanjit Singh Channi took the CM's chair after Amarinder left the party, he reduced the tariff on the first 300 units by Rs 3 for those consuming loads up to seven kilowatts. Channi brought the charge for the first 100 units to Rs 1.19 against Rs 4.19 before. From 100 to 300 were set to be charged at Rs 4 per unit against Rs 7 back, and more than 300 were priced at Rs 5.76 per unit against Rs 8.76 earlier.
After former CM Parkash Singh Badal's free grand of power from 1997-to 2002, Amarinder Singh did away with the subsidy partially.
Congress later blamed PPAs that private thermal power plants are behind the high power prices. PPAs allegedly favoured private entities, making the government pay them sustenance fees even on off-peak days.
However, the AAP government now have to decide on the PPAs too.