In a significant development, the Centre has advised Karnataka to desist from going ahead with costly power generation projects as they may become a financial burden later.
According to sources in the power sector, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal gave this advice at a meeting held in Bengaluru to review the State power scenario. The Minister is believed to have particularly referred to some of the projects, including the proposed gas-based power plant which would come up at Yelahanka in Bengaluru.
Pointing out that cheap surplus power is available in different parts of the country, he suggested to the State to give importance to accessing such power instead of opting for costly projects.
Admitting that inadequate transmission capacity has come in the way of import of surplus power from different regions, the Union Minister is learnt to have said that the transmission capacity was set to increase in the next four to five years.
Some of the State’s costly power projects too would take these many years to materialise, he reportedly pointed out.
However, Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar was firm about going ahead with the Yelahanka project as several energy experts stressed the need for implementing it in the interest of Bengaluru’s future power needs. Speaking to The Hindu , he said there was a need to develop this gas-based project as a back-up power generating station for Bengaluru.
