Harish smells Rs 50K crore scam in state power sector

Hyderabad: BRS senior leader T Harish Rao on Wednesday alleged a scam worth Rs 50,000 crore in the power sector, claiming that 30 to 40 percent of this amount would be siphoned off as commission. He criticized the government’s proposal to construct a 2,400 MW thermal power project, warning that it would impose a significant financial burden on the people of the state. The BRS leader also alleged that the proposal of the state government to bring new Discoms was nothing but a conspiracy to privatise the Discoms and handover to Adanis and Ambanis.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday at Telangana Bhavan, Harish Rao said the Cabinet had approved construction of three new thermal power plants at Ramagundam, Palvancha and Makthal with a combined capacity of 2,400 MW.

He said Revanth Reddy’s government is claiming the construction rights will be given to whoever offers power at the lowest cost either NTPC or TS Genco.

Calling it a farce, Harish Rao said that NTPC already submitted a DPR (Detailed Project Report) with a cost of Rs 12.23 crore per MW, whereas Genco’s DPR estimates Rs 14 crore per MW.

He asked, “When NTPC can do it for Rs 12.23 crore, why propose Rs 14 crore through Genco? Who benefits from this extra Rs 2 crore per MW?” The BRS leader said that the new proposed plants under Revanth Reddy would cost Rs 14 crore per MW, which could increase to Rs 16 crore by completion raising suspicions of inflated costs to accommodate commissions.

He further added that the proposed project at Ramagundam doesn’t require land acquisition or rehabilitation as everything is ready, which should reduce the costs even further.

“Instead, they are raising costs by Rs 7 crore per MW, which translates to Rs 5,600 crore for 800 MW,” he said. In total, across all three plants, Harish Rao said that nearly Rs 15,000–Rs 20,000 crore is being escalated through manipulated DPRs, forming the core of this massive scam.

Harish Rao pointed out that NTPC had written three letters stating they are ready to supply 2,400 MW under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act. Harish Rao asked, “Why reject power from NTPC when it costs nothing to the state? Why prefer costlier, debt-funded Genco projects?” Rao said that the idea of new Discoms was a failure idea and this was nothing but conspiracy to privatise the existing Discoms.