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Gas-based plants in India are not viable because there is not enough gas in the country and Naptha-based plants produce costly energy, government said today blaming inadequate planning for the situation. Power Minister Piyush Goyal informed the Lok Sabha that power crisis in the country is a situation which he has "inherited" and is not the doing of a 67-day old Modi government.

Responding to supplementaries, Goyal said gas-based plants are not viable because there is not enough gas in India. "There is not enough gas in this country and if at all, these plants have come up, there was no assurance of gas being provided at any particular price or the availability of gas was not guaranteed to any of these plants," he said.

Goyal said Kerala has some gas-based plants and it is "very difficult" to imagine how a government could subsidise power from the plants which are set up without assurance from the government. He said the Centre is sympathetic to the fact that these assets have come up and see if we can find out a suitable mechanism to support these plants.

"Having said that, as of now the policy is that power is allotted as per the Gadgil Formula. We are going by that formula and based on that formula, appropriate allocation is being made. The extra unallocated power is given to the states which are having the highest power deficiency," he said.

Source-On Request