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The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has found Punjab and Haryana “miserably” failing in achieving new power generation capacity targets, leading to high cost of power purchase during 2005-10.
The CAG in its latest report found Haryana adding just 970.71 MW of power from all sources, including thermal, hydro, non-conventional against planned addition of 3,720.71 MW during 2005-10, resulting into “massive” shortfall of 2,750 MW.
The new power capacity accounted for just 26 per cent of planned capacities in the power-starved State.
Similarly, Punjab could only add new power generation capacity of 937 MW, against the target of 1,772 MW of capacity, facing a shortfall of 825 MW during the same period.
Significantly, against the meagre addition of new capacities, the peak demand for power in Haryana and Punjab during 2005-10 zoomed to 1,800 MW and 2,078 MW respectively, forcing the power utilities to resort to load-shedding and power purchase, the report said.
Pointing out that both States failed in maintaining pace in energy capacity addition with growing demand, CAG said the huge deficit between demand and power supply forced both States to resort to short-term purchase, which was costlier than own generation cost and more than the actual realisation of revenue.
The inadequate capacity addition was attributed to the delay in commencement of new power generating units coming up in Yamunanagar, Hisar and Faridabad in Haryana.
Haryana alone in 2009-10 had planned to add new capacity of 2,775 MW but faltered on the same by adding just 59 MW, the report said.
In case of Punjab, low capacity addition was ascribed to failure of the state electricity board in providing escrow cover to developer of Goindwal thermal project, delay in investment decision over Shahpur kandi project, among other reasons, CAG said.
In case of Punjab, CAG said, “(Punjab State Electricity) Board resorted to unplanned power purchase through short-term and panic measures at exorbitant cost, at an average rate of Rs 5.38 per unit when its average revenue realisation was Rs 3.46 per unit.”
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