A war of words broke out in the Lok Sabha on Thursday between Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Congress member Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was Power Minister in the UPA-II government, on the latter questioning the Narendra Modi Government’s claim of bringing electricity to every home, and the former blaming the Congress regime for the failure in the sector.

Raising the issue during Question Hour, Scindia picked holes in Goyal’s claim, saying that the plant load factor was declining, no power purchase agreements (PPAs) were being signed, and alleged that seven crore households in rural areas still did not have electricity even as the government was claiming surplus power availability in the country. He said that under the UDAY scheme, which was launched in Jharkhand, the average loss of 90 paise per kilowatt had risen to ₹2.50 today, adding that “after the launch of UDAY, losses have risen in seven States.”

Hitting back at Scinidia, Goyal said that by making this statement the Congress leader had exposed the “performance” of his party, which had been in power for 50 years since the country’s Independence.

A heated exchange followed as Scindia insisted on an answer on why PPAs were not being signed if power was surplus. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had to intervene and ask both members to “drink water” and calm down.

Goyal said PPAs would be signed only after the existing ones were exhausted, blaming the UPA government for signing too many PPAs, which were burdening Discoms now.

The Minister said all power plants in the country had at least 20 days stock of coal and were generating enough power, adding that States are given power as per their requirement.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW