SURAJ NANDREKAR
suraj@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The Laxmikant Parsekar government has been raising a toast to a series of approvals by the Investment Promotion Board (IPB), and the jobs that will be created. However, despite clearances by IPB, which is touted as a single window clearance for industrial purposes, industries are facing a major roadblock – the Electricity Department.
Power Minister Milind Naik, who has a history of blocking power load approvals of companies for months on end for reasons companies naturally do not wish to come on record, has gone a step further. He kept projects cleared by the all important IPB grounded by not giving power sanctions.
At the 10th meeting of the IPB on April 7, 2016, industry representatives were up-in-arms over the delay and refusal of Electricity Department, headed by Power Minister Milind Naik, to clear their load approvals for the units. The issue was listed at number four on the agenda – ‘Delay in power approval for Cipla Ltd, Verna’.
“As soon as the issue came up for discussion, members raised their concerns and criticised Electricity Department for the delay in load approval to Cipla,” said an industry source, present at the meeting.
Sources further revealed that even IPB members supported the issue and said that not only Cipla but almost all companies and industries face the problem of load approvals which Power Minister Milind Naik has been holding on to.
“The government is trying to attract more and more industries to the State, which will generate more employment, but this is the state of affairs, that the files do not move an inch, unless certain things are done” sources said.
Herald’s readers are free to interpret this comment in any manner they desire.
“Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar had no answer to this as no representative of the Power Department was present for the meeting,” sources said. However, he directed the IPB CEO to get the approval for Cipla immediately and this was done on June 16, 2016.
Herald in its edition dated November 4, had reported that applications for commercial connections were kept pending by the Electricity Department without valid reason. Sources reveal the applications were kept on hold for obvious reasons. Repeated calls to the Chief Minister and the Industries Minister went unattended.
Many other projects waiting for power sanctions
Herald also accessed documents that there are 14 other such files from commercial units for load approvals have been kept pending for no particular reasons (see table). The applications are for loads as low as 100KVA.
Another industry official said his file is pending for about a year with the Power Minister for no reasons.
