Goa will request the lifting of a 14 month ban on power connections to industrial and commercial units as a privately owned 50 MWe power plant nears completion.
The ban has brought Goa’s industrial development to a halt. Only industries prepared to build their own power plants can thrive.
While the new plant will ease the problem slightly, observers doubt if the high court will lift the ban as there will still be a 30-50 MWe shortfall.
The Reliance Salgaoncar 50 MWe unit will raise capacity from 190 MWe to 240 MWe, but demand is about 280 MWe. The power secretary is hopeful that implementing a regime of power shedding, with further improvements to the transmission system in the next few months, he can persuade the court to lift the ban of connections.
