PANJIM/PERNEM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said that the Goa government will purchase 120 MW of power from the open market to meet the demand of the shortage-hit industry in the State.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of an event at Pernem, Sawant said that the maximum power requirement of the industry will be fulfilled as the government has decided to purchase 120 MW of power from open market and supply it to the industry.
On Monday, Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar had said that he had already forwarded the proposal to purchase an additional 125 MW of power from the open market for commercial consumers during the summer season.
Industry leaders said they have accepted to bear the additional cost of purchase of power as their operations have been severely affected due to the shortage. However, industry has urged the government to adopt measures such as controlling power leakage, pilferage, etc to reduce the intensity of the problem and also reduce the burden on the industry.
GCCI delegation meets Power Minister
Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar on Tuesday assured a delegation of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) that the government will constitute a task force soon for power procurement on a war footing.
Agreeing to the proposal of GCCI to form a task force, the Minister said that task force will consist of experienced senior electrical engineers from GCCI, who will help the Electricity Department in the process of sustaining and modernising the power distribution in Goa.
As a temporary relief, the Goa government will procure additional power and the industry will support the government by paying Rs 1.65 per unit for the excess power procured. This will be applicable only for the deficit power for each industrial unit. This arrangement will be valid for a period of two months only from the date of procurement.
GCCI delegation comprising president Ralph De Sousa, honorary secretary Yatin Kakodkar and GCCI Industry Committee chairman Gautam Raj met Dhavalikar with regard to the power situation in the State. Chief Electrical Engineer Stephen Fernandes was also present.
De Sousa thanked the Minister for supporting the industry in the power crisis. Currently there is a peak load restriction along all the sectors which is affecting business. The diesel genset running cost is in excess of Rs 30 per unit which is not viable, he said.
GCCI pointed out that the Government of India supports electricity departments/Discoms with the RDSS Scheme (Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme) which has an outlay of Rs 3 lakh crore of which Rs 97,000 crore had been sanctioned for the current year. The objective for this scheme is to improve quality, reliability and affordability to consumers through a financially sustainable and operationally efficient distribution sector. However, these funds are distributed on performance basis ie the State will have to show improvement in all the parameters in transmission and distribution (T&D). The Centre will not support in advance. The task force will play a major role in this aspect to garner funds for the State and these funds will help to revamp the power distribution system in Goa, GCCI said.
The current equipment also needs to undergo sustenance analysis, especially the major transformers, De Sousa said, adding that if the transmission and distribution losses are reduced, the State will not need to procure additional power at extra cost.
The Minister thanked the GCCI for the suggestions and said that he was open to any improvements which benefit trade and industry in the State.
