Chandigarh plans to put power in pvt hands, to hire consultant for the purpsoe

He added, “The Administrator had asked us to study this proposal so as to improve efficiency. I have asked the engineering wing which will be inviting consultants for this project this week. The whole intention is to run it efficiently.”

An amount of Rs 640 crore is spent every year in purchasing power for Chandigarh. The UT power department purchases it for Rs 3.26 paise per unit.

Chandigarh has no power generation of its own. It has a consumption of around 400 Mega Watts (MW).

The electricity department does not have its own power generation source and buys its power through its allocation from Central generating stations (CGS): the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) and Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd (THDC).

To meet the demand which goes up to its peak during summers, the electricity department sometimes procures un-requisitioned surplus power from different stations.

The department has power purchase agreement (PPA) of 247MW. To meet the shortfall, un-requisitioned surplus power was usually purchased from power plants at Dadri, Jhajjar, Unchahar-I and Unchahar-II, and various other plants.

At present, the power load of Chandigarh is fed from Kishangarh-based 3×100 MVA power transformers, Mohali’s 2×80 MVA and 66-kV line from Dhulkote.

There is one 220KV sub-station, 13 66KV sub-stations and five 33KV sub-stations in the city. Each sub-station has a life span of 25 years and around six 66KV sub-stations have completed the life span. There are nearly 2.5 lakh consumers in different categories. Of them, 1.75 lakh fall in the domestic category. The UT Powermen Union has decided to protest on July 17 against the administration’s decision to privatise power.

UT Powermen Union general secretary Gopal Joshi said, “Not only will be it be a loss for both employees as well as public but will also increase power rates for the public. Private companies will work for profit unlike government’s electricity department.” The general secretary added that in other states, where privatisation was done, the tariff increased.