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The 'AAP' government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has bought the private thermal plant of Goindwal Sahib as a New Year gift to Punjabis. Currently, the focus of the entire country is towards the private sector, while Punjab has hit a new milestone by turning towards the public sector. The Punjab government bought the 540 MW GVK Goindwal Thermal Plant for Rs 1080 crore, which has been approved by the National Company Law Tribunal of Hyderabad on December 22.
The Punjab government has also canceled the expensive power agreements with private thermal power plants by buying Goindwal Thermal. With the coming of this thermal in the public sector, the people of Punjab will also get cheap electricity from this thermal. According to important sources, the 'AAP' government has carried out the procurement process of this private thermal after running a secret campaign of about six months. About ten companies were in the race to buy this thermal.
On 10 June 2023, the Punjab Cabinet had given the go-ahead to buy Goindwal Thermal. A cabinet sub-committee formed for this purpose looked into the financial and legal aspects. After the government's approval, PowerCom had put in a financial bid to buy the thermal in the month of June itself.
Powercom's 'board of directors' has already given the green signal for this purchase as the company operating this thermal, 'GVK Group', has gone bankrupt. This group had taken a loan from around a dozen banks for this thermal, which has now increased to around 6600 crores.
Banks had filed a petition in October 2022 before the Hyderabad bench of the 'National Company Law Tribunal' as the financial distress of GVK Group and dozens of financial institutions have filed claims of 6584 crores against it. This private thermal company has been declared 'corporate bankruptcy'. A 'resolution professional' appointed by the National Law Tribunal is proceeding with the process of selling this thermal.
The Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission had estimated the cost capital of Goindwal Thermal at Rs 3058 crore. According to the details, the Punjab government has now purchased this thermal at a cost of Rs 2 crore per MW, while the cost of a new thermal is Rs 8-9 crore per MW. Goindwal Thermal was not running at full capacity for some time and Powercom was not getting full power supply due to lack of funds.
Keep in mind that on October 30, 2021, during the Channi government, a notice was given to cancel the power purchase agreement with GVK Goindwal Sahib Limited, which was blocked by the Electricity Regulatory Commission. By buying this thermal, the 'AAP' government has also indulged in the 'power purchase agreement'. Electricity experts say that there is no example of government buying any private project anywhere in the country.
After the purchase of Private Thermal, it has been renamed as 'Guru Amardas Thermal Power Limited'. In Punjab, first a thermal has been built in the name of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in Bathinda, in the name of Guru Hargobind Sahib in Lehra Mohabbat and in the name of Guru Gobind Singh in Ropar. The Congress government had closed two units of Bathinda Thermal and Ropar on January 1, 2018. The purchase of Goindwal Thermal will strengthen the public sector.
Experts say that after the purchase by the government, the electricity of this thermal will cost 4 to 5 rupees per unit, while earlier the electricity from this thermal used to cost 9 to 10 rupees per unit. Among all the private thermals of Punjab, this thermal had the highest electricity cost. Powercom will now be able to use coal from its abandoned coal mines, which will reduce the cost of power generation. Tejveer Singh, Principal Secretary, Power Department and Baldev Singh Sara, CDP, PowerCom played a leading role in the entire procurement process.
Goindwal Thermal Plant was commissioned in April 2016. This thermal has a capacity of 540 MW and is spread over 1075 acres. Looking back, the Beant Singh government had announced the installation of 500 MW Goindwal thermal in 1992 and after that the Akali government had signed an MoU for this thermal of 500 MW on 17 April 2000 and the tenders for installing this thermal were not made.
The Congress government later increased its capacity to 540 MW in 2006. The Akali government entered into a power purchase agreement of 540 MW in May 2009. In the year 2014, the coal mine allotted to this thermal was rejected by the Supreme Court. Litigation started shortly after the launch in 2016. PowerCom served a defaulting notice in 2019 and declared GVK Group bankrupt in October 2022.
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