Rana Gurjit pressuring PSPCL to withdraw plea against his power company: Khaira
CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Saturday alleged that power minister Rana Gurjit Singh is misusing his official position and pressuring Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) to withdraw a civil plea filed against his company Rana Sugars Ltd in the Supreme Court.
Khaira, while addressing a press conference here, said Rana Gurjit’s company had set up a 12-MW capacity co-generation power plant in 2001 to supply 10.2 MW power to PSPCL for 20 years at a base rate of Rs 3.01 with an annual escalation clause of 5% up to financial year 2004-05. Thereafter no escalation was permitted, as per the agreement. The power purchase agreement (PPA) was signed on May 4, 2005.
The MLA alleged that Rana Gurjit’s company violated the agreement and approached the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) in 2010 seeking re-determination of tariff for supply of power to PSPCL.
The PSERC rejected the petition in 2013 and thereafter the company approached the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, New Delhi, challenging the order.
In 2014, the Appellate Tribunal allowed the appeal and forwarded the matter back to PSERC for reconsideration and to re-determine the tariff after duly considering the actual fuel cost of bio mass, said Khaira, while showing copies of official documents to support his claim.
The MLA said that in 2015, the PSPCL filed an appeal against the judgment of Appellate Tribunal in the Supreme Court under the Electricity Act, which is now set for hearing on September 8.
“Interestingly, Rana, who as power minister is controlling PSPCL, is now misusing his official position and pressuring PSPCL to either withdraw the petition from the Supreme Court, or accept the judgment of the Appellate Tribunal of Electricity passed in favour of his company,” charged Khaira.
He said it’s a clear cut case of conflict of interest. “It has now become amply clear why (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh has backtracked from bringing the ‘conflict of interest’ law as he knows that his blue-eyed Rana would become the first victim of this law.”