Buy power now, CM tells discoms

On Saturday, as Delhi recorded its highest-ever demand for power, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit swung into action, cracking down on the private power distribution companies, report Avishek G Dastidar & Anuradha Mukherjee.

On Saturday, as Delhi recorded its highest-ever demand for power, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit swung into action, cracking down on the private power distribution companies.

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“Tomorrow I am meeting with BSES chairman Lalit Jalan. I have told them to sort this problem on Sunday. I don’t want these problems on Monday,” Dikshit told HT.

“There is a clause that discoms are supposed to buy power on their own to supply to their area. NDPL had been smart and reliable about it, BSES has been lax … Now I have told them to buy power immediately,” she said.

BSES, which is owned by Anil Ambani’s Reliance group, supplies power to south, east, west and central Delhi. NDPL, which stands for North Delhi Power Limited, is owned by the Tata group. The Delhi government is monitoring power trading, she added, and said she had asked the discoms to “buy power whenever it is available anywhere in India.”

Dikshit also summoned the top officials of BSES and NDPL and asked them to ensure that consumers are immediately provided with a loadshedding schedule for the next two days.

HT had carried out a sustained campaign highlighting the power crisis in the city and the discoms’ reluctance in dealing with it.

Dikshit also spoke to Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and asked him to enforce grid discipline from other northern states who are overdrawing power.