BJP leader Vinod Tawde on Tuesday alleged a mega scam in electricity generation projects in the state. Mr Tawde, who is the leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council said that the state had spent nearly `20,000 crore in the last nine years on increasing the electricity generation capacity. However, there is a decrease in power generation, he said. He demanded the CM to make inquiries into the matter and take action against concerned ministers and bureaucrats.
Mr Tawde claimed that he had obtained information through RTI about the money spent by the state government since 2004 on enhancing the capacity of nine thermal power projects. “The government has spent `19,672 crore since 2004. By 2012, the capacity of these projects was expected to increase by 5,730 megawatt. But, in reality, the generation capacity has not increased even by a single megawatt. On the contrary, the generation capacity has gone down from 42,929 megawatt in 2004 to 39,048 in 2012-13,” he said.
Likening it to the irrigation scam, Mr Tawde said that while the irrigation capacity of the state increased by one per cent after spending `70,000 crore in 10 years, the power generation has seen negative growth after an expenditure of `19,672 crore. “It is obvious that the projects were undertaken not to increase the power generation, but to mint money,” he said.
Mr Tawde further said that he would write a letter to the CM demanding investigation into the matter and take action against concerned ministers and bureaucrats. He said, “If the CM does not take action, we will be forced to believe that he is also involved in this. As the Opposition, we will exert pressure on the CM to take action.”
In February 2012, Subrat Ratho, an IAS officer, who was then head of the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (Mahagenco), a state PSU, had written a letter to the state energy secretary claiming that there were irregularities in Mahagenco’s functioning. Referring to Mr Ratho’s letter, the Opposition leader said that projects were not completed in time to favour private players. “When the state’s power production goes down, it buys costly power from private companies. At the same time, the cost of the project also goes up,” Mr Tawde said. He further alleged that the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission had allowed a tariff hike 12 times in the last 36 months, due to which the Mahagenco’s income increased by `18,687 crore. Besides that, Mahagenco had also earned `260 crore as fuel surcharge in the same period. “Despite this, Mahagenco’s tariff is much higher than the neighbouring states,” he added.
However, the spokesperson of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company LTD (MSEDCL) denied the allegations and said that the state had become load shedding free in 2012 itself. “The loadshedding is being imposed only in areas where people do not pay their electricity bills regularly. The allegation of high tariff rate is also not true. We provide electricity to below poverty line people at `0.76 per unit, while farmers get electricity at `1 per unit. Gujarat has higher tariff,” the PRO said.