Coal scams caused shutdown of 65000 MW of power projects: Goyal

, July 5: Coal scams during the tenure of the "previous government" have adversely impacted the availability of

forcing the power generation projects with collective capacity of 65,000 MW being shut in the country, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said here on Saturday.

"The availability of coal in the country is adversely affected due to coal scams that have taken place during the tenure of the previous government. Today, the situation is such that 65,000 MW of power generation projects are completely shut in India," Goyal said while addressing BJP workers at the party office here.

The minister said his ministry was working out ways to restart the shut projects

The minister said his ministry was working out ways to restart these projects so that issues related to availability of power and its transmission are resolved.

"However, even though these plants are shut, their annual maintenance cost is rising and the ultimate burden is finally put on people," Goyal said. On the issue of power tariff, Goyal, who is the minister of state with independent charge for power, coal and new and renewable energy.

PTI