Rs16K crore power scam in Mayawati regime: CAG

Scams relating to power purchase, distribution and modernisation of power projects amounted to the tune of over Rs 16,000 crore during the previous Mayawati regime in Uttar Pradesh. The scams have been exposed in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report on the working of the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) tabled in the state assembly on Monday.

The grant of the Bara thermal power project in Allahabad to JP Associates Limited and the 25-year power purchase agreement with that company is set to cause the state exchequer a loss of Rs 10,831.82 crore, according to the CAG report.

The report states that the contract was granted despite the high rates quoted by the company. Besides, there was a delay of about two years in finalising the contract which led to further escalation of costs.

The rates at which the state government finalised the power purchase agreement with JP would result in a total loss of Rs 10,831.82 crore over the 25-year term of the contract finally allotted in March 2009, the report says.

The CAG has also found fault with the grant of the contract to M/s Torrent Power Ltd. for power distribution in Agra, and has estimated that the deal would cause a loss of Rs 5,022.24 crore to the state exchequer. Bunglings in the Power Transmission Corporation resulted in a loss of Rs 372 crore, the CAG report states.

The Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti, a federation of power employees, has demanded that contracts for the Bara and Karchhana projects granted to JP Group be withdrawn in view of the CAG report. Samiti convenor Shailehdra Dube said the Agra franchisee to Torrent Power should also be scrapped.

The UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad, a body of power consumers, has demanded a CBI inquiry into the scams. It has also called upon the chief minister, who also holds the energy portfolio, to scrap the power purchase agreements causing huge losses to the state.