Centre diverts 700 MW power from Delhi to Haryana, may lead to power cuts in city

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[google-translator]

NEW DELHI: The Union power ministry has decided to divert 728 MW (megawatt) power allocated to Delhi from a National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) plant in Dadri to neighbouring Haryana from April 1, citing a letter written by Delhi power minister Satyendar Jain in July 2015, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Power utilities in Delhi said the power ministry’s directive to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) was issued without prior notice and could lead to power cuts in the national capital. Delhi’s peak power demand on Tuesday was 4,332 MW, and is expected to cross 8,000 MW this summer. Last year, Delhi clocked a peak power demand of 7,323 MW.

“Keeping in view the power surrendered by Delhi in Dadri-II Station of NTPC and the willingness of Government of Haryana, it has been decided to re-allocate surrendered/available share of 728.68 MW to Haryana from Dadri-II Station of NTPC w.e.f. 01.04.2022 to 31.10.2022…CEA is requested to get the allocation implemented under intimation to all concerned with effect from April 1, 2022,” Raja Ramaswamy, under secretary at power ministry, said in a letter to CEA on March 28, 2022.

On Tuesday, the CEA issued an order notifying the changes which bring down Delhi’s share of electricity from the Dadri-II plant to zero.

Jain could not be reached for his comments late on Tuesday. The story will be updated when he or his office responds.

But the power utilities in Delhi said the power ministry communication was incorrect.

“Delhi surrendered around 750 MW of power only from the Dadri-I plant. Delhi has, in fact, always maintained that it needs the required power from Dadri-II to meet its rising power demand. But, in the latest order, the Centre has diverted Delhi’s total allocation from Dadri-II station as well,” said one discom official requesting anonymity.

To be sure, Delhi did relinquish its allocation of about 750MW from the Dadri-I power plant on November 30, 2020.

HT reviewed letters sent by discoms BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, BSES Yamuna Power Limited and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited in 2021, which request the power ministry to surrender Delhi’s share of power from Dadri-I station.

Asked about the decision, a Union power ministry spokesperson said the decision was taken at the city government’s request. The spokesperson showed this reporter a letter written by Delhi power minister Satyendar Jain in July 2015 to then Union power minister Piyush Goel, informing him that Delhi wanted to surrender its allocated share of electricity from 11 power plants including the Dadri-II plant.

In this letter, Jain requests the Centre to reduce Delhi’s allocation from some central power plants in view of the high cost of power.

“Delhi being a landlocked city with neither coal reserves nor hydel potential is largely dependent upon CPUs as a major source of its power supply. The average power purchase cost of Delhi is high vis-à-vis many States in India resulting in the levy of a higher electricity tariff. The matter of costly power was also discussed with your good self during our meeting on 28.04.2015 and you were kind enough to offer that if Delhi wants to surrender the power allocated from a few central sector stations it will get full cooperation in this regard from the Central Government. On the basis of the inputs from the deliberations conducted with all the stakeholders with an objective to reduce the burden of high electricity tariff it is proposed to surrender the power from the following central sector stations in the same sequence of priority as mentioned hereunder…,” Jain said in the letter. The list included surrendering 735MW of power from Dadri-II plant, apart from 10 other stations.


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