Bengal helped power Delhi's CWG glory

A rightful share of the praise heaped on the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) for a spectacular inaugural function including the laser show should also go to West Bengal, for the much-required electricity for the Games is being supplied by the state.

From October 1, the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSEDCL) has been supplying Delhi 50 MW a day and it will continue for the entire duration of the Games.

Though Delhi administration had planned to import power from DVC, the plan did not work out as DVC's proposed Raghunathpur thermal power plant could not be commissioned on time. So WBSEDCL stepped in to save the situation.

According to one senior official of WBSEDCL, who did not want to identified, "Despite West Bengal being denied a share of power from the ongoing Subansiri hydel project in Arunachal Pradesh, we agreed to supply electricity for the CWG because it involves prestige of the nation."

Earlier, WBSEDCL had entered into a power purchase agreement with the Subansiri project for importing 500 MW on a regular basis to meet the growing demand in the state.

But, the Centre unilaterally cancelled that and decided to take away the entire surplus power for Delhi. The 2,000-MW Subansiri project is yet to be commissioned.