No new thermal power power plant in the state, including those at Talwandi Sabo, Rajpura and Goindwal Sahib, will be commissioned before November 18, 2012.
The Union Ministry of Power has said this in a reply to a query by Lok Sabha MP Ravneet Singh Bittu. Union Minister of State for Power, KC Venugopal has stated that as per the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the first unit of the 3660 MW thermal plant at Talwandi Sabo will be commissioned on November 18 next year, the second unit on February 8, 2013 and third unit on June 10, 2013.
Similarly, the first unit of the 2270 MW thermal plant at Goindwal Sahib will be commissioned on January 31, 2013 and the second unit on April 30, 2013. The Rajpura thermal power plant of 2700 MW capacity will have its first unit commissioned on January 17, 2014 and the second unit on May 17, 2014.
"These figures translate into the fact that Punjab cannot be a power surplus state. As all these thermal plants are being set up on build-own-operate (BOO) basis, neither the state government nor the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has spent a single penny on these projects," Bittu said.
