Its power-play in Punjab. As the State is moving towards Assembly polls with little patience, political parties in Punjab are apparently seeking power out of power issues. Less than a month after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) promised free power supply to domestic consumers besides cancellation of contentious power pacts, Punjab Government, too, has come out with electrifying orders.

The orders came a day after Punjab Congress newly-appointed team, led by state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu, had urged a review of the PPAs with Independent Power Producers (IPPs), inked during Akali rule.

Notably, the Pspcl had signed 14 PPAs with Thermal or Hydro Plants and 122 Long Term PPAs with Solar or plants after 2007, to make the state power surplus with a generation capacity of around 13,800 MW (megawatt).

PSPCL was also forced to utilize full power from the Central Sector Generating Stations so that the crops of the farmers could be saved, Capt Amarinder noted, adding that the State was also compelled to enforce power regulatory measures from July 1 to 11 on Large Supply (LS) Industry of to meet the rising demand of the farmers.

It may be mentioned that the Chief Minister had sought a legal opinion on renegotiating controversial PPAs.