The Delhi government has again urged the Union power ministry to allow it to retain its existing share of 728MW in the Dadri-II power plant to ensure there is no electricity shortage in the national capital.
In a letter to the ministry, the government said the power purchase agreements executed between its power distribution companies and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for a committed supply of 728MW from its plants, including Dadri II, were valid till July 30, 2035. “If the Centre does not listen to our request, we will have no option but to move the court,” a senior power department official said.
According to officials, the Union ministry, in its June 28, 2022 order, reallocated around 500MW of power to Haryana and the remaining 228MW to Delhi, and the arrangement is valid till October 31, 2022. The ministry said this April that the then Delhi power minister, Satyendar Jain, through a letter dated July 6, 2015, had surrendered power from 11 central generating stations, including Dadri stage-II, with immediate effect.
The Delhi government, however, contends that the entire scenario of power requirement has changed this year. “In 2015, the maximum peak load of Delhi was 5,846MW, which is much higher in 2022,” the power department said.
“The alleged fact that Delhi surrendered its share in Dadri-II in 2015 cannot be taken as a valid plea for reallocation of this power,” said an official. The demand on June 29, 2022 was 7,695 MW, the highest ever in Delhi till date, the government has noted.
Being the national capital, it is important that Delhi gets uninterrupted, 24×7 reliable and seamless power supply, stated the letter.
The government said the power ministry had “completely overlooked” a letter written by Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission to it on October 14, 2021 that share from Dadri II was to be retained by the Delhi discoms. “Further, discoms BYPL and BRPL also informed NTPC in October 2021 that they had not applied for surrender or re-allocation of power from Dadri-II station,” said the letter.
“It is noteworthy that Delhi government never sought any surrender of the power from Dadri II and it must be allowed to retain its existing power share…” it added.
Source: PTI
