New Delhi/Mumbai : Replying to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s oft-repeated accusation that the Centre is denying additional power to Maharashtra, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said on Sunday that the State has made no request for allocation of additional electricity and it is simply politicizing the issue.
“I have had extensive discussions with 18 states but somehow Maharashtra never came forth, as of today there is no request pending from Maharashtra. We have no request from Maharashtra for any additional power or any allocation of unallocated power as I speak,” he told reporters here at an event marking Narendra Modi-led government’s 100 days. The minister said that the state government got in touch with the Central ministry prior to the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, last month.
“We received a call, one day before Ganesh Chaturthi, from the Maharashtra government, highlighting a Supreme Court verdict which is between the state governments and some private parties,” he said.
Goyal said that the Centre is not party to that problem, it is a contract between state governments and certain private parties which has got into a judicial dispute, it is for the judiciary and the states to sort out.
“I don’t know in what respect the Chief Minister of Maharashtra (Prithviraj Chavan) is casting such baseless allegations,” he added.
“It is very unfortunate… politicisation of such a critical issue as power. We are willing to co-operate with all state governments in the field of electricity supply,” Goyal added. — PTI
