Team Herald
PANJIM: Industries Minister Mahadev Naik on Thursday said he will take up the issue of delay in power load approvals by Electricity Department with the Chief Minister and the Power Minister. Naik was reacting to the Herald report on the Electricity Department delaying load approvals to industries.
The industries minister said that no such complaint has come to him. “I have not received any complaint so far from any industrial units. However, I will look into the matter and if need be I will speak to Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Power Minister Milind Naik,” he said.
“Chief Minister is the chairman of the IPB and he would be in a better position to comment and handle the situation,” Naik added. He, however, admitted the load approvals cannot be delayed to the industrial units as it sends a wrong signal. “I don’t think it is happening but if does it isn’t good,” Naik said.
What is pertinent to note is that Naik himself has played truant for the past five Investment Promotion Board (IPB) meetings and hence does not have much knowledge of what transpired at the April 7 meeting.
When asked for reasons for his absence, the minister tried to play down the issue. “There is nothing like what is speculated by the media. It is just coincidence that I have missed some meetings due to prior commitments,” he said.
Herald on Thursday had reported that despite clearances by IPB – which is said to be a single window clearance for all industrial purposes – industries are facing a major roadblock in the Electricity Department.
At the 10th meeting of the Goa Investment Promotion Board, held on April 7, 2016, industry representatives were up-in-arms over the delay and refusal of the Electricity Department, headed by minister Milind Naik, to clear the load approvals for their units. Another 14 industries were facing a similar issue at various industrial estates.
