The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government on Tuesday welcomed Central Government’s assurance to allocate it a coal block. In a “Thank You” letter to Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal accessed by The Pioneer, Delhi’s Power Minister Satyendra Jain claims that the former has “assured” the State Government of allocating a coal block to put an end to the ailing power sector in the national Capital. The letter also states that the Centre is likely to allocate a pithead power station located in the Central or the Eastern part of India to the Delhi Government.
The letter was sent by Jain on Tuesday, a day after he met Goyal to discuss the electricity situation in Delhi. “I am very thankful for the graciousness and the warmth shown during our yesterday’s meeting (23.02.2015) for discussion issues related to Delhi’s power sector. In this regard, I am particularly touched by your concern for improving the power situation in Delhi and the assurance made during the course of the meeting that a coal block will be allocated to the Government of NCT of Delhi for setting up a pithead power station in the Central or Eastern region of the country,” the letter reads.
Jain had earlier said the Delhi Government had decided to bid for coal blocks with an aim to set up new power plants and increase its own electricity generation capacity. The AAP Government’s aim was to increase power generation from the current 1,000 Mega Watts to 4,000 Mega Watts.
He had then said that the Government plans to set up its own coal-based power plants to meet the rising power demand of the city, which had touched 6,000 MW in the last summer.
However, after the letter it may be unlikely that Delhi gets a new in-house power plant. But nevertheless, a power station in some nearby region seems to be coming in the AAP Government’s pocket.