CHENNAI : TANGEDCO caused over Rs 6,000 crore losses to the State government through procurement of Indonesian coal between 2012 and 2016, city-based NGO Arappor Iyakkam alleged on Tuesday. Earlier, the NGO had alleged that over invoicing of coal procurements in that period could have cost the State exchequer anywhere between Rs 1,500 and Rs 3000 crores. The NGO has arrived at a figure of Rs 2,177 crore for loss caused by over invoicing and has also taken data from CAG report on TANGEDCO to arrive at the consolidated figure which is almost half the procurement cost of the Rs 2.44 crore tonnes of coal imported in those four years.
The NGO has used the loss caused by over invoicing coal in that period, discrepancies highlighted by the CAG report on public sector undertakings (PSUs) for 2016-17 financial year, and the sum that could have been saved if reverse auction method had been implemented in the four year period, to calculate the total loss of Rs 6066 crore. Express had reported in July that the CAG report on PSUs for 2016-17 financial year had stated that failure to penalise low-quality coal shipments and failure to implement variable pricing cost the exchequer more than Rs 1500 crores.
When Express contacted TANGEDCO, they refused to divulge information about queries about the particulars. “We have submitted clarifications to the State Assembly and the CAG’s office. We have nothing to say now,” said N Sathiaseelan, Chief Engineer, Coal. Following Arappor Iyakkam’s allegations in January, TANGEDCO said there were no discrepancies in procurement of coal and proper penalties were levied on low-quality coal shipments.