PANJIM: Atul Paikane has been involved in the creation of the Investment Policy of the state. The Make in India concept articulated by the PM lead him and others to believe that a ‘Make in Goa’ strategy was equally important. He spoke to the Herald about the factors that could help make it a success.
Herald: With regards to the SEZ land how much is available and where ?
Atul Paikane: The total land locked up in SEZ is approx 39 lakh sq metres. Most of it is in around Verna and a large parcel at Keri.
Herald: With regards to power, if Chattisgarh is not happening then what?
AP: The govt has already tied up power to meet current needs till May 2015 and there is currently no load shedding in the state. The Govt is also in the process of tendering to purchase additional quantity on a long term basis.
Herald: How do you handle distribution?
AP: During our discussions on the Infrastructure sub committee on the IPB, we have understood that the govt is in the process of planning augmenting infrastructure on the distribution network. While on the subject, we have requested that for all new industrial estates, the GIDC be the owner of the network and it will buy power from the GED and then distribute it within its network in the estate. For Quitol , for eg, we have suggested a planned sub station of 15 MVA in 3 phases of 5 each. The connection to the sub station would be by underground cables from Cuncolim and would be at 33 KV. This would be reliable power offering to anyone who sets up there. The choice of the voltage at the industrial estate would be 33/11/415.
Herald: There is a central move to bifurcate commercial and non commercial lines, is the IPB aware of this and how will it benefit
AP: We have suggested that all industrial feeders be delinked from the domestic feeders. Simply put, whenever there is a shortage of power or any outage , it’s the industry which suffers. With ndependent feeders, the problem will be averted. This in fact is an IPB proposal.
