4 Jun 2012 Hindustan Times (Chandigarh)HT Correspondent [email protected]

PSEB body flays pvt thermal plants

PATIALA: Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers’ Association (PSEB) on Sunday expressed deep concern at the tardy approach of the state government in setting up 1320-MW thermal plant.

Despite repeated assurances, no tangible steps have been taken to prepare the blue print for setting up this plant, said the new president Baldev Singh. “The construction of the upcoming thermal plants is running behind schedule. The delay is bound to escalate the cost of power,” he said.

Singh said the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) had enough coal in its captive mines to set up and run thermal plants of its own. “The plants under the state sector would have produced cheaper power and provided employment opportunities to Punjab youth,” he said.
The association has been demanding that the state government should award the development of this power plant project to PSPCL.

The association said the state government was not concerned about providing cheap power to the consumers of Punjab. The association would take up this issue with the state government.

The executive in its meeting also resolved to raise the issue of prevailing stagnation in the engineering cadre. “In the last six months no engineer has been promoted at the middle level,” he said.