Gandhinagar, Aug 4 ; Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Friday offered to supply 2,000 megawatts of power to the national powergrid provided the Centre provided gas at cheaper rates to the state.
Modi met union ministers Sharad Pawar and Jairam Ramesh in Gandhinagar on Friday and said he had been making the offer since the last one year, but the Centre was yet to respond, reports Hindustan Times.
Modi's offer comes in the context of the world's biggest power blackout on July 30-31, when nearly half of India went dark due to collapse of the power grid across northern, eastern and north-eastern India.
The union ministers had come here to discuss the drought situation in Gujarat, when Modi gave this offer.
Modi wants the Centre to provide gas to Gujart at cheaper rates and build high-capacity transmission links so that power-starved states can get power at less than half the price quoted in the short-term electricity market.
Modi pointed out that his state energy minister Saurabh patel had written two letters two years ago to the then Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, saying that due to inadequate inter-regional transmission corridors, "a very significant portion of the surplus power in Gujarat gets stranded".
Modi said, he has reformed Gujarat's power sector after coming to power 10 years ago, and wanted the height of Sardar Sarovar dam to be raised to produce more electricity.
Gujarat has a 15,906-MW capacity against its requirement of 12,000 MW. By the year-end, the state plans to raise its capacity to 18,000 MW.
