Cabinet to discuss closure of thermal plant units today

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab council of ministers in a meeting scheduled on Thursday would decide on the proposal to shut down state-run Guru Nanak Dev thermal plant in Bathinda and two of the six units of Guru Gobind Singh super thermal plant in Ropar.
Another important agenda which would be placed before the cabinet for approval is the proposal to set up the 270-member Special Protection Group (SPG) to combat terrorism and neutralise armed aggressors, counter infiltration, hijacking, hostage-taking and other sensitive threats.
The state government has been deliberating on closure of thermal plants for the past some years, citing their high running cost. Punjab power minister Rana Gurjeet Singh refused to say anything on the cabinet agenda, but when asked about the state's decision to purchase electricity from private companies, he said, "It is a fact that the state government is getting power at much lower rates from private companies like Reliance than the cost of electricity generation in the thermal power plants."
Guru Nanak Dev thermal plant employees federation union had been protesting government's decision to permanently shut down the plant. The employees have also warned that they would be compelled to go on indefinite strike if the government went ahead with its decision to shut down the thermal plant. Guru Nanak Dev thermal plant at has four units which generate a total of 440 megawatt power. However, Guru Gobind Singh super thermal plant at Ropar also has six units of 210 mega watt each.
Though state police's proposal to come up with SPG was given in-principle approval on August 10 in a meeting headed by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh but the proposal would be formally placed before the cabinet for its final approval.
As per the plan, the SPG would be headed by an ADGP rank official with an IG and a DIG rank officer to assist him. The team would be divided into three teams headed by a SP rank officer of less than 35 years of age. The DSP rank officers in the team would be younger than 30 years and other ranks would be in the age group of 18-25 years. The SPG personnel would undergo specialised training both under the Army and the National Security Guard. The team would be armed with latest weapons.