BJP demands rollback of power distribution privatisation
BHUBANESWAR: With no respite from power cuts and consumers left at the mercy of Tata Power, the BJP on Thursday demanded the state government roll back the privatisation of the power distribution business and take over the management from the company.
“The repeated assertions of Energy Minister Pratap Keshari Deb that Odisha is power surplus and dislocation in the power supply is a localised problem are out and out lies. Again, if the state was power surplus what is the need for entering into a power banking arrangement with Madhya Pradesh,” party spokesperson Manoj Mohapatra questioned at a media conference here.
He said the state government has admitted that it has spent Rs 18,500 crore in the power infrastructure development during the last 12 years. Out of this, the contribution of the central government was Rs 6,444 crore. The state government sold a 51 per cent stake in the four distribution companies to Tata Power for a consideration of Rs 6,693 crore. Since there is no visible improvement in the power supply to the consumers, the government owed an explanation to the people as to who benefited from the huge money spent in the sector.
Even as the state government is a shareholder of 49 per cent in the four distribution companies -- TPCODL, TPNODL, TPSODL and TPWODL -- managed by Tata Power, it is least bothered about the plight of consumers who have been experiencing unprecedented power cuts in one of the harshest summers.
Instead of taking any tangible action against Tata Power, the Energy minister and other BJD leaders are behaving like spokespersons of the private company.
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