HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday announced that his government would order a judicial probe into the ‘misdeeds’ of the previous BRS government in the power sector. The judicial probe will look into three aspects — a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Chhattisgarh government and the construction of the Bhadradri and Yadadri power plants.
Making this announcement in the Assembly, Revanth said that Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who also holds the Energy portfolio, will issue proceedings for the judicial inquiry. The chief minister also announced that an inquiry by an all-party fact-finding committee would be ordered to look into whether or not the BRS government provided 24x7 power to farmers.
Speaking during the short discussion on ‘Telangana State Power Sector - White Paper’, Revanth termed the Chhattisgarh PPA a “scam” and said that it was signed without inviting tenders. There were even cases in the Chhattisgarh Electricity Regulatory Commission and the probe would also look into them, he said.
On Bhadradri, the chief minister said that Gujarat-based Indiabulls proposed to construct a 1,080 MW power plant. “However, at that time, the Centre changed the policy and directed states to construct thermal power plants using only supercritical technology. Then, Indiabulls, which already placed purchase orders with BHEL, wanted its money back. BHEL refused to return the amount and began searching for another ‘useless fellow’ so that the money could be returned to Indiabulls,” Revanth explained.
“The BRS government then came forward to take over the outdated subcritical equipment for Bhadradri. The BRS government spent Rs 10,000 crore on the plant,” he pointed out, alleging that public money was looted in the name of Bhadradri.
The CM said the Yadadri agreement was also signed without inviting tenders. The project was delayed and the construction cost increased abnormally, he said. The probe would look into all aspects — from entering into an agreement with BHEL to the developments that took place in Yadadri to date, he added.
Siddipet, Gajwel & Old City top defaulters
Siddipet, Gajwel and Hyderabad South were in the top three positions in the non-payment of power dues in the state, Revanth said. Siddipet stood first with 61.37% dues followed by Gajwel (50.29%) and Hyderabad South 43%, he said. The chief minister said that T Harish Rao, K Chandrasekhar Rao and Akbaruddin Owaisi should take responsibility for getting defaulters to pay the dues in Siddipet, Gajwel and Hyderabad South respectively.
Revanth recalled that the BRS government signed an MoU on November 3, 2014, with the Chhattisgarh government for 1,000 MW of power. Chhattisgarh stopped the power supply and the state incurred huge losses, he said, adding that it was a “scam”.
“When we opposed the MoU with Chhattisgarh, we were suspended from the Assembly and marshals lifted us,” Revanth recalled. When an employee exposed the lapses in Chhattisgarh MoU, he was transferred to a remote place, he recalled. Finally, the burden on the government due to the MoU with Chhattisgarh was Rs 1,362 crore, he said.
Reacting to former Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy’s demand to order any kind of inquiry into the alleged misdeeds, the chief minister said: “I welcome and appreciate the former energy minister. I am announcing a judicial inquiry into the power sector, which will look into three aspects.”
Revanth alleged that the erstwhile BRS government utilised farmer suicides and insufficient power supply to the agriculture sector for its financial benefit. “Srisailam hydel power generation tunnel exploded and nine persons were killed due to the government’s negligence. Congress supported the family of Fatima who died in the accident,” Revanth said.
Assembly adjourned
The Legislative Assembly was adjourned sine die on Thursday. The govt released two white papers on the Finance & Power sectors during the 26 hours and 33 minutes the House sat
from The New Indian Express - Telangana - https://ift.tt/HcuBGCv https://ift.tt/E1Dg40J
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