VIJAYAWADA: The Opposition TDP on Wednesday alleged that a massive scam took place in the purchase of electricity meters for agriculture pump sets in the State. The Jagan Mohan Reddy government had evolved a plan to purchase each meter at a whopping cost of Rs 35,000 to get crores of rupees in the form of commission.
Speaking to mediapersons at the party headquarters in Mangalagiri, TDP spokesperson K Pattabhiram said, “It is a fact that at least Rs 6,500 crore is going to be spent on purchase of meters and a huge amount to be paid as commission to Tadepalli palace in this transaction. Shirdi Sai company, which is a binami unit of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, is going to play a major role in the entire deal.”
The Energy Department officials, in a Powerpoint presentation on October 12, clearly mentioned on page number 50 the amount that they are going to spend on the purchase of meters. “When the officials themselves have clearly stated that they are going to spend Rs 6,480.34 crore, how shamelessly Energy Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy can claim that only Rs 1,150 crore is being spent on the project,” he asked.
The officials made it clear that the Letter of Intent too was already released and all the related works would be completed by June 2023, the TDP leader pointed out.“While Peddireddy is claiming that the tender process was cancelled, the officials are clearly stating that the sample meters have been sent for testing and the process is also completed,” the TDP spokesperson stated.
Pattabhiram also alleged that benami companies of Jagan were playing a key role in setting up of pumped storage power plants. This had come to the fore during a PowerPoint presentation given to the Chief Minister by the Energy officials, he added.
Stating that the total amount of arrears to be paid for Discoms as on April 1, 2022 is a whopping `12,300 crore, he asked who will trust the YSRC government that it will reimburse the meter charges to farmers, when such a huge amount of arrears are due to the Discoms.
EX-MINISTER TERMS CID A YSRC SISTER CONCERN
Vijayawada: Former TDP minister Nakka Anand Babu slammed the CID terming it a sister concern of the ruling YSRC. Speaking to mediapersons at the TDP headquarters in Mangalagiri on Wednesday, Anand Babu alleged that the CID’s existence was only meant to file false cases against TDP leaders and harass them. The Jagan Mohan Reddy government was utilising the services of the agency only to subject TDP leaders to custodial torture, he charged.