PSEB invites global tenders
Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 18
Having miserably failed in ensuring adequate power supply for the state, Punjab is now going in for global tendering for purchasing power on a long-term basis. The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has been allowed to purchase about 1,800 MW from as many sources as possible.

Though electricity is unlikely to be available before winter, the PSEB has invited global tenders for supply of power for meeting the base load on a long-term basis under “Case 1 tenders bidding guidelines as notified by the Ministry of Power, Government of India”. The PSEB has invited bids from supplier who can provide at least 50 MW on a long-term basis. The PSEB will receive bids till October 8, 2009.

The decision to purchase power was taken after the Centre refused to help in bridging the shortfall of about 2,000 MW following a sharp increase in consumption in the state since last year. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal informed the Vidhan Sabha earlier this month that the state had kept aside Rs 3,000 crore for power purchase, but the same was not available from anywhere at any cost.

Punjab has been facing an acute power shortage during the current summer season. Both domestic consumers and farmers have been facing 14 or 16 hours of power cuts despite Punjab managing to get about 303 MW additional power from the Centre. The current requirement of power in Punjab is pegged at around 7,870 MW (according to CM’s statement in the Vidhan Sabha) while the availability is only 6,800 MW. The requirement is likely to go up next year.

The Central Electricity Authority had projected that Punjab would suffer massive shortage with the peak demand for the Punjab during 2009-10 estimated at 9,110 MW while the peak availability was estimated at 6,540 MW, a peak deficit of 28.3 per cent. The government claims that despite its best efforts on “power banking”, the shortage could not be fulfilled as other states backed out of their power-banking agreements.