Delhi govt asks for coal block to set up power plant

To keep the power tariff low in Delhi, AAP government is working on getting coal block to set up power plant and has proposed to surrender 2,255 MW electricity it buys at a high rate from Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), Delhi Power Minister Satyendra Jain said today.
"We have asked for coal block from Central government and they have assured to give us. We are expecting the final decision by the month of September-October," Jain said.
"No one is giving us cheap electricity, so we will start producing our own power at Rs 2.50-3 per unit. At present, coal blocks are available at Odisha or Jharkhand," Jain said while attending conference titled 'Affordable 24x7 Power to All @2019,' organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

Explaining the reason for high power rates in Delhi Jain said, "We are new in government as it has been only four month and we are still trying to find why power rates are so high in Delhi.
"I held meeting with discoms and asked them to explain why they are buying power at such high rate and now after four months they have agreed to surrender power we are purchasing from Central government at high cost."
Power Minister said that Delhi's peak load is 6,000 MW and the lowest demand is 1,500 MW during the winters. Average comes around 3,000 MW but power purchase agreement is more than 6,000 MW which is not logical.

"We have requested Central government to surrender around 2200 MW power allocation from Central PSUs as they are costly which cost us more than Rs 5-8.
"Delhi does not need this much power we have to sell excess supply. Delhi's requirement is less than power purchase agreement. The move may lead to decline in power rates in Delhi," he said.
Hitting on power companies performance Jain said, "I don't understand why this (power) sector works on cost plus basis. There is no incentive to perform well but there is incentive on being inefficient.