Karnataka not transparent in renewable energy projects: Piyush Goyal

Karnataka is not following the transparency system in developing renewable energy projects, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said in Parliament.

Goyal was replying to K H Muniyappa of the Congress in the Lok Sabha. He was asked whether the Karnataka Power Minister (D K Shivakumar) repeatedly requested the Centre to solve the coal problem in the state.

"Minister of Power from Karnataka usually meets me only for renewable energy and to get guidelines fixed up so that more and more PPAs (Power Purchase Agreement) in terms of renewable energy could be signed by the state. Unfortunately, they were not being done through a transparent process and were done through the contractual arrangements. Therefore, probably, the regulator was creating a problem and thus he had to come to me," Goyal said.

It may be recalled that when Goyal was Power Minister, he had flagged the Karnataka government over its eagerness in setting up the new and renewable power projects through PPA instead of competitive bidding.

The Centre has been insisting the states to select private companies for developing renewable energy projects through competitive bidding as it ensured low tariff instead of PPA mode or contractual agreement.

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