Chandigarh: Punjab Power and Industries Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond has said the state’s own thermal power plants are not facing any shortage of coal, while the main issue is the supply of coal to privately operated plants in Talwandi Sabo and Rajpura.
Sond said Punjab, being an agriculture-dependent state, requires uninterrupted electricity supply for farmers as well as the wider economy. He said he had also written to the Union Power Minister, urging the Centre to immediately provide Punjab its full entitled share of power.
Rejecting claims of a coal shortage, Sond said the state had operationalised its Pachhwara coal mine, ensuring a continuous supply of coal for its government-owned thermal plants.
According to the minister, the supply issue concerns the private thermal plants at Talwandi Sabo and Rajpura, with ensuring coal availability for these plants being the responsibility of Coal India.
In the presence of PSPCL Chairman-cum-Managing Director Dr Basant Garg and Director (Generation) Engineer P.S. Brar, Sond said technical faults in the state-owned generating units had been rectified.
He added that efforts were underway to restore the remaining units at the private thermal plants at the earliest and improve power availability across the state.
