Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday assured farmers of eight hours of power supply every day for the ensuing paddy season, beginning June 13, while promising 24-hour supply of power to all other categories of consumers.
At a meeting to review the preparations of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL) for the supply of power during summer and paddy season, he said that his government was committed to supplying quality power.
According to an official statement, the power companies briefed the Chief Minister about the arrangements made for meeting the demand of 14,000 MW, even though the demand anticipated by the PSPCL was likely to be around 13,500 MW.
The Chief Minister directed PSPCL and PSTCL to ensure round-the-clock supply during summer and paddy season to all areas of the state.
The officials of the power companies informed the meeting that good level of water in dams would help in good hydro generation from PSPCL's own hydel plants as well as that from Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).
The coal stock at all thermal stations was sufficient, that is, for 32 days at Lehra Mohabbat, 48 days at Ropar, 25 days at Rajpura, 14 days at Talwandi and 22 days at Goindwal Sahib.
A state government spokesperson said that for FY 2018-19, a subsidy of Rs 8,855 crore was given for the benefit of 34,52,600 consumers of Punjab, and for FY 2019-20 Rs 9,674 crore subsidy would be given for 37,40,348 consumers.
"Two hundred units per month of power are being supplied free to SC, non-SC BPL and BC domestic consumers, totalling more than 21 lakh without any condition of consumption of the number of units," he said.
"Another 300 units per month of power were being supplied free to the freedom fighters. Further, due to the subsidy paid by Punjab government, no payment was made by 14 lakh agriculture consumers on account of power consumption in the state," added the spokesperson.
He said that the state government was also subsidising power to 1,44,000 industries, and about 1,05,000 small power (SP) consumers were being charged subsidised overall rate of Rs 4.99 per unit, that is, no fixed charges. As many as 30,000 medium and 9,000 large supply consumers were being charged at concessional energy charges of Rs 5 per unit.
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