The attack comes days after the UP government blamed the Centre for the prevailing power crisis in the state by not allocating coal and not proving due power as per the allocated quota in the Central pool. In fact, Yadav claims having written as many as three letters to the Centre seeking to redress the current power crisis, which often precipitated in protests and law and order problem.
Speaking to reporters in Lucknow through teleconferencing, Goyal said various schemes of the Centre were lying defunct because none of the contractors wished to work given the poor law and order situation in UP. He said the state government did not allocate land for starting any non-conventional power projects in the state.
Goyal also accused the state government of not taking power from the non-allocated quota of the Centre after May. "We thought power situation in the state had improved since the state stopped taking power from the quota,'' he said.
The power minister said it was unfortunate he could not do anything for the state from where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies won 73 seats to storm to power at the Centre. Goyal said it was only after UP governor Ram Naik called on him that the ministry decided to take initiative. "It was after the Governor's call that the chief minister called on us," he said. The Union minister said he would be coming to UP any time after September 15. "But that is only if the chief minister gives us time,'' he said. Subsequently, there would be meetings to discuss ways to improve power situation in the state.
The power minister said when he was in Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he was told that supply of power in the city was extremely bad. "Power outages did not surprise people. Uninterrupted power did,'' he quipped.
Referring to increased instances of power theft in the state, Goyal said the Centre can do nothing for a state where power pilferage and line losses account for 42% of the total transmission capacity.
Goyal said the centre respects the Gadgil formula wherein power allocation is made according to population size. He said UP enjoys highest allocation from the Centre's pool and gets 6384MW power. He said Centre was willing to work with any state government, irrespective of the political party in rule.
Speaking on coal shortage, the minister said growth in coal production has been very slow. "But that is what I inherited from the previous UPA government. We are trying to change the scenario,'' he said. Goyal said power generation from the coal fired thermal power stations in the last three months has risen by around 21.4% which is significant in comparison to 5% the corresponding months last year.
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