Kicking the ball back into her political rival’s court, following criticism that an erstwhile AIADMK government had not come up with new power generation projects and that now it was not purchasing power from surplus states, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa countered that the previous DMK government did not enter into long term agreements with other states to buy power at lesser price. In a statement rebutting Mr Karunanidhi’s charges against her government on the current power crisis, she alleged that the previous DMK government purchased power at a higher price through short term agreements and power exchange basis. She said during that time, considering the congestion in the southern transmission corridor, other states in the region were given allocation based onthe long term agreements they signed for purchasing power from surplus states. The DMK government should have entered into long term agreements for purchasing power from other states. Then the state would be able to buy power at a price lesser thanRs 3 per unit now, she pointed. The state would also have allocation in the southern grid. The state has signed an agreement with Gujarat for 500 MW of power. But only 235 MW could be obtained because of DMK government’s faux pas, she alleged. Even now, though Tamil Nadu has signed agreement for getting 1600 MW of power from other states, it could get only 81 MW. Hence, the government headed by Mr Karunanidhi made it difficult to purchase powerfrom other states, she charged.
—UNI