Punjab CM takes Kejriwal head on over failure to provide free power to Delhi farmers
Takinghis Delhi counterpart head on for failing to provide free power to the farmersin the national capital, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh onMonday slammed Arvind Kejriwal for making false promises on free power inPunjab with an eye on the 2022 Assembly polls.
TheKejriwal government has completely failed the people of Delhi on all counts,with no free power to the farmers in the villages located in the national capitaland excessively high power tariffs for the industry, said Captain Amarinder,declaring that the people of Punjab have already rejected the pathetic Delhimodel of governance on all counts.
ThePunjab Chief Minister termed the Delhi power tariff structure a case oforganized loot by the Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, which wasopenly allowing private power distribution companies in Delhi, including theReliance Group, to fill their pockets by collecting excessively high tariffs atthe cost of the common man.
WhileDelhi is charging Rs. 9.80 per unit for industrial power, the CongressGovernment in Punjab is levying a subsidized tariff of Rs. 5 per unit toattract industry to Punjab, which has witnessed more than Rs. 85,000 croreworth of investment visible on the ground in the last 4 years. Subsidised poweris currently being given to 1,43,812 industrial units in Punjab with an annual subsidy of Rs. 2226 crore, hepointed out, slamming Kejriwal over the latter’s recent
Insharp contrast to Punjab, where his government was giving free power worth Rs.6,735 crore to 13,79,217 farmers, the AAP government in Delhi had made noeffort whatsoever to extend similar support to the agricultural communitythere, said the Chief Minister. Pointing out that the Kejriwal government wasamong the first to notify one of the anti-farmer Farm Laws of the Centre inDelhi, he slammed AAP for pretending sympathy for the farmers of Punjab.
Exposingthe anti-people power tariff structure of Delhi, Captain Amarinder said theDelhi Government was befooling the people by putting a small amount into onepocket, by way of 200 units of free domestic power, and taking away a higheramount from the other pocket by way of the high tariffs being paid by theshopkeepers, industry and farmers for commercial and agriculture power. The Delhi Government was charging Rs. 11.34per unit from small shopkeepers and other commercial establishments, which was50% higher than what was being charged in Punjab, he said. In fact, he said,every resident of Delhi was indirectly paying much more for power than what wasbeing paid by residents of Punjab.
Comparingthe subsidies of the two states, the Chief Minister said that the PunjabGovernment is paying an annual power subsidy bill of 10,458 Crore while the Kejriwalgovernment is paying Rs. 2820 Crore, when the population of Delhi was a mere 2crore compared with Punjab’s 3 crore. This translates into average powersubsidy in Punjab at Rs. 3,486 per person, as against Rs. 1410 for a Delhiresident.
Further,pointed out Captain Amarinder, the Punjab government is giving subsidized poweramounting to Rs 10,458 crore, which is2.24% of its total revenues, while the Delhi Government has provided a subsidyof Rs. 2,820 crore, which is only 1.03 % of its total revenues.
Thesituation, said the Punjab Chief Minister, was even more damning when seen inthe context of the revenue generated through sale of power to the consumers.During the year 2020-21, PSPCL sold 46,713 MW of power whereas the distributioncompanies in Delhi sold 27,436 MW of power. Total revenue earned through saleof power was Rs. 29,903 crore in Punjab and Rs. 20,556 crore in Delhi. As aresult the average cost per unit of power in Punjab comes to Rs. 6.40 where asit is Rs. 7.49 in Delhi, he pointed out.