Goa govt can try to emulate Delhi model of providing uninterrupted power supply: Minister Dhavalikar

Goa Power Minister Sudhin Dhavalikar has informed the state legislative assembly that the state government can try to emulate the Delhi government's policy of providing an uninterrupted power supply if it is feasible.

Responding to a cut motion for the electricity department in the House on Thursday night, Dhavalikar refused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Venzy Viegas' demand for 300 units of free electricity in the coastal state.

Viegas claimed that the AAP government in Delhi was providing free electricity and that the same model can be implemented in Goa, and demanded an uninterrupted power supply for the people of the state.

To this, Dhavalikar said that while the AAP government was providing 300 units of free electricity in Delhi, it has not repeated the model in Punjab.

"On the other hand, 20 days after the AAP government was formed in Punjab, industries in the state were asked to shut down during night time to avoid load shedding," the minister claimed.

Dhavalikar went on to compare the electricity tariffs in Goa and Delhi, claiming that power was much cheaper in the coastal state.

While the Goa government can't accept the demand for free electricity, it can "try to emulate the Delhi government's policy of uninterrupted power supply, if it is feasible," he said.

The AAP had contested the 2022 Goa Assembly elections with free electricity and uninterrupted water supply as its main poll plank. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party has won two seats in the elections.