The high cost power purchase agreements (PPAs) and related issues in power sector are expected to spark off a political tussle in the forthcoming legislature session as Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah has demanded a White Paper on comparison of PPAs between Gujarat and Karnataka particularly when the Congress ruled Karnataka.
Mr. Siddaramaiah made the demand while launching a counter attack on Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar who had accused him of causing a huge financial burden on energy sector by not releasing the subsidy amount towards consumption of irrigation pump sets. The Energy Minister had also indicated that the high cost PPAs signed during the erstwhile Congress regime were a burden on the present dispensation by saying that the Energy Department would try to renegotiate them.
Mr. Siddaramaiah demanded that the Energy Minister should bring out a White Paper on the PPAs signed by all the States from 2010 to 2022 so that a clear picture would emerge. Similarly, the government should release documents on PPAs signed by Narendra Modi when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he demanded, and also sought that a White Paper should be brought out on comparison of PPAs between the BJP government in Gujarat and the erstwhile Congress government in Karnataka led by him.
He took serious exception to Mr. Sunil Kumar’s allegation that he (Siddaramaiah) had intentionally resorted to put Escoms under financial stress to show the energy sector, especially the rural energy sector, in poor light to prepare a ground for installing meters for IP Sets. Urging him to produce any documents to substantiate his allegations, Mr. Siddaramaiah challenged him to move a resolution in the forthcoming legislature session, opposing the Electricity Bill brought out by the Narendra Modi government that has proposed to install meters for IP sets.
“If you bring such a resolution to prove your commitment, we will support it,” he said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah defended his decision to raise loans for clearing the pending power dues by arguing that such a measure was a must to protect the financial health of the energy sector.
Referring to the Minister’s statement that the Karnataka government had earned a handsome revenue by selling surplus solar power, Mr. Siddaramaiah remarked that the Minister was taking credit by selling solar power which was added to the grid by the erstwhile Congress government.
