Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said Thursday that the government had signed an agreement to buy 1,200 MW of solar energy from Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam, a subsidiary of the Bhakra Beas Management Board and a leading renewable energy firm. He described it as the biggest solar power purchase agreement in the country. The chief minister told reporters that Punjab State Power Corporation Limited had floated tenders for procuring solar power from projects located in Punjab and elsewhere in the country. He said that SJVN (Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam) Green Energy Limited proposed Rs 2.53 per unit from 1,000 MW in Bikaner (Rajasthan) and Bhuj (Gujarat) and Rs 2.75 per unit from 200 MW at Hoshiarpur (Punjab). Mann said that for the first time, the Swiss challenge method was implemented to invite counter bidding. Mann said that the earlier bidding was of 2.59 per unit, but it was negotiated and brought down to 2.53. For 200 MW, the bid was made at Rs 2.79 but finally came down to Rs 2.75 per unit. With this, the state government will save Rs 431 crore in 25 years through this negotiation, adding that to avoid transmission cost these projects will be started soon. The chief minister said the earlier governments had mercilessly plundered taxpayer money by signing agreements that benefited private players. He said that between 2007 and 2017, none of the projects cost below Rs 7 per unit whereas the latest agreement has been signed at a nominal cost. He said that Punjab would soon take a revolutionary step aimed at making the state power-surplus. The chief minister said that the rate in the agreement had been fixed for 25 years without any further rise in the cost. He further said that no transmission charges and no transmission losses would have to be paid by PSPCL. The solar power projects would be made functional within 18 months. Mann said that estimated daily production of green power is 83 lakh units. It would further help in supplying power to agricultural tubewells during the day as solar energy would be available. Aiming to further promote clean energy and to provide maximum power to agricultural tubewells during the day, PSPCL has floated more new tenders to procure 2,500 MW solar power. The chief minister said the agreements inked with the companies had been made public “unlike in the past, when these were veiled in secrecy”. On the controversial power purchase agreements signed with four private thermal plants, Mann said that while the government was heading towards buying the Goindwal Sahib power plant, efforts were being made to revise the deals with other private thermal plants. Cabinet reshuffle On the buzz about a cabinet reshuffle, the chief minister said that there was no such move. “Please do not scare our MLAs and ministers. The government is doing fine. There is no proposal to rejig the cabinet,” he said. Governor’s canon remarks A day after Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit said the chief minister had skipped his At Home function, probably because he was scared of cannons outside Raj Bhawan, Mann said he did not want to say anything to the governor. “He is an elderly man. He wants to scare me. But I do not want to say anything. Let him say anything,” the chief minister added. Panchayat elections The chief minister said that he wanted the panchayat heads to be elected with consensus. “I want the sarpanch to be of the village and not of any political party,” he said.
