*Congress Slams BJP for Power Tariff Hike* Padurang Madkaiars, at a CII Conference on Solar energy today, made a statement that the union government has increased traffic of thermal electricity in the last two days and it would be difficult for the Goa Govt to absorb the hike in power rates. This statement is a clear indication of the policy failure of both the Center and the State.
Since the time UPA-era coal leases were cancelled, the Modi government made no attempts to mine and utilise India’s Coal reserves. Instead, they worked harder at ensuring private companies get a free hand to import coal by offering hundreds of Crores of Rupees in loan and other incentives. The government also spend Crores of rupees of taxpayers money to build shipping, rail and road corridors just so that these companies can transport coal. Goa has witnessed the devastating impact of these policies. The Modi government went to the extent of closing down the CBI investigation against Adani for overvaluation in the import of power plant equipment by Rs 6,000 crore and also closing a case pertaining to an alleged 29000 Crore scam involving 40 companies including Adani for allegedly inflating the value of coal prices imported from Indonesia via front companies. Unlike countries like China, Modi has made no effort to secure India's future in coal supply both internationally nor domestically. Today these policy failures are hurting the nation. The jump in the spot price of power to 5-year high of Rs 11.41 per unit is just one indicator of the impact of coal shortage. At the State level, Pandurang Madkaikar took many months to finalise the draft solar policy. After notifying the policy there has been no initiative by the department to promote solar energy. No State level scheme has been introduced and there has been no effort to promote central government schemes in the State. Even the proposal to set up a hydropower plant at Anjunem dam has not even reached tendering phase. Even the existing infrastructure needs hundreds of Crores worth of upgradation to meet current and future demand. Pandurang Madkaikar has to explain what he has done to secure our State’s energy future. The increase in tariffs will be detrimental to the industry but more importantly, it will add on to the financial burden on the people of our State who have not yet recovered from the increase in Petrol and Diesel prices. The Congress party warns the BJP government in Goa not to increase the power tarrifs and absorb the increased prices by cutting down on unwanted expenditures like junkets and unwanted projects. -- Avinash Tavares GPC Secretary and Spokesperson Phone : 9657210949
