Claiming that India’s is a power surplus nation, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said that the state governments are responsible for the disrupted power supply to the industrial hubs. He said this in a response to a question from KNN.

Goyal said, “State Governments should purchase the electricity to provide power without interruptions to the industries across the country in order to make India competitive.”

For this, he said, “I am in continuous talk with the state governments.”

He said this on the side-lines of an event ‘Infocom 2016’organized here on Thursday.

He suggested the state governments to take a dedicated line for the industries. “By and large, collection of payment and monitoring of the companies are easy,” the Minister said.

When asked about the next round of coal auctions, Goyal said that the next round of coal auction would take place whenever the market would be available for new auctions.

He said that since the international coal prices are low, hence it should be done once the government gets a fair value for coal.

He added that it is a national wealth which cannot be given at a cheaper price. (KNN Bureau)