Chief minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday inaugurated new power supply infrastructure, including five power grid substations, boasting that his government did not let a pandemic come in the way of improving public utilities, a claim vehemently disputed by the BJP that had initiated these projects when it was in power in Jharkhand.

The projects, worth Rs 600 crore, include a double circuit power transmission line between Godda and Dumka, that, the state government said, would alleviate the miseries of thousands of people in the power-starved districts of Garhwa, Palamau, Chatra, Deoghar and Giridih.

Dedicating Monday’s launch to the people of the state, Hemant said the government was now focusing on Jharkhand becoming a power surplus state with zero outages.

“Our focus now is to get rid of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC)-supplied power in about seven districts to overcome regular threats of blackouts issued to us by the Discom. Also, we shall save on expenditure for procuring power from other sources. The newly launched grids will solve most of these problems,” the chief minister said after launching the projects online from Project Building in the presence of his cabinet colleagues and senior officials of the state energy department.

The five grids that were inaugurated are Bhognaidh Garhwa (220/132 kva), worth around Rs 123 crore; Jasidih grid substation (220/132/33 KVA), worth around Rs 137 crore; Giridih substation (220/132/33 KVA). worth Rs 146.50 crore; Jamua substation (132/33 kva), worth Rs 72.50 crore; Saria substation (132/33 kva), worth Rs 80 crore; and the 71km-long Godda-Dumka transmission line (220kva), worth Rs 57 crore.

Garhwa is among the worst-hit districts, reeling under acute power shortage since Independence. Executive director of Jharkhand Urja Sancharan Nigam K. K Verma said Garhwa barely got two-four hours of power.

“However, the new sub-station in Bhognadih in Garhwa will solve that problem. We were mostly dependent on Uttar Pradesh to source power for Garhwa but people used to barely get two-four hours of power. As a result, not just houses, many industries too ceased to function,” he said, adding that all the new grids would now usher in rapid all-round development.

The BJP, however, went all out to claim credit for the new grid sub-stations, with former chief minister Raghubar Das and a host of other senior party leaders taking to social media to point out how it was their government that had worked to make Jharkhand self-sufficient in power.

State BJP president Deepak Prakash said, “The Hemant Soren government should have given due credit to his predecessor as it was because of the past regime’s vision that power-parched districts can now hope to get relief from unending darkness. We would have acknowledged the new government’s contribution had they laid the foundation stones and ensured its completion. Ironically, they are now taking credit for the work done by our government in the last five years.”