BENGALURU: Miffed with the Union government's opposition to import of coal from Maharashtra for power plants in the state, energy minister D K Shivakumar said on Friday he would highlight this issue during a conference of power ministers commencing in New Delhi on December 6.
He told the media that the Union government handed a notice on import of coal from the neighbouring state at a time when Karnataka was reeling under acute shortage of electricity. Notwithstanding the Union government's hostile stand vis-à-vis power shortage, the state government would continue its efforts to import coal from Maharashtra and other states. The three-day conference of power ministers in Delhi would be the best platform to highlight this issue, he added.
The minister, who garlanded the statue of the late chief minister Kengal Hanumantaiah to mark his birth anniversary, assured consumers that his department would not resort to power cuts despite such problems in purchase of coal. One option would be to purchase power from UPCL owned by the Adani Group of industries, he added.
Referring to state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa's statement that the Union government was ready to supply power at Rs 2.5 per unit, Mr Shivakumar said the state would purchase power at any low price offered by New Delhi. "Let Mr Yeddyurappa fix an appointment and lead the delegation. We will go to Delhi under his leadership. The state will be more than happy to purchase power at a low price from the central grid," he added.
