Pvt players may be asked to set up merchant power plants
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
In a bid to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of power, the Punjab government is contemplating to allow private players to set up merchant power plants in the state on the pattern of Gujarat model and a comprehensive policy in this regard will be announced shortly.

Disclosing further details, a spokesman of the Chief Minister’s office said the prospective entrepreneur would be asked to sell 20 per cent of the generated power to the state government only at variable cost and the developer would be free to sell the remaining power in the open market.

Under the new proposed policy, private parties interested to set up such merchant power plants would arrange land, coal linkage and undertake other formalities of their own. The state government would only facilitate in providing required water for the power generation.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal recently held a detailed meeting with the top brass of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) to chalk out a strategy to set up these power plants in the private sector. He asked the board to devise ways and means to encourage private entrepreneurs, who had expertise and technical know-how in the field.

The CM has directed Principal Secretary, Irrigation and Power, Suresh Kumar and Chairman, PSEB, HS Brar to ensure a level playing field to all private key players who intend to set up merchant power plants in the state and hopes such power plants will play a crucial role in augmenting the power supply in the state.

The state government has already had a Non-Conventional and Renewable Sources of Energy (NRSE policy) in Punjab, but there was no policy on the setting up of merchant power plants so far. It was a conscious decision on the part of the government to formulate a concrete policy to enable private investors to set up such power plants.