THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an apparent bid to shield KSEB from possible government scrutiny over its warning of an impending power crisis, Electricity Minister Sunny Joseph on Friday defended the utility.
The minister maintained that KSEB had not pressured the government to sign the power purchase contract but had only reiterated the need for additional power.
The proposed scrutiny stemmed from Chief Minister V D Satheesan’s suggestion that KSEB’s assessment of a looming power crisis needed to be examined.
Addressing reporters in Kannur, Sunny said KSEB had merely conveyed the necessity of procuring additional power. “No new power purchase contract has been entered into so far,” the minister said, when asked about the current scenario.
Maintaining that there was no issue within the government over power purchase, Sunny blamed the media for reports of differences between the chief minister and himself.
However, any proposed examination of KSEB’s assessment is unlikely to take off, sources said, pointing out that former KSEB chairman and managing director M G Rajamanickam had merely forwarded the recommendation of the utility’s core committee, comprising technically qualified senior officials.
“The committee had assessed the state’s power requirements based on data from the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC), as part of its periodic exercise to evaluate the demand-supply situation.
Rajamanickam, in his capacity as CMD, had only communicated the committee’s recommendation to the government and was not the author of the assessment,” a senior government official said.
Meanwhile, any attempt to examine the recommendation would, therefore, necessarily bring the entire senior management involved in the technical assessment under scrutiny, rather than just the former CMD. This makes the prospect of pursuing an inquiry difficult, sources pointed out.
Sunny’s defence of KSEB on Friday is also being seen as an indication that the issue should not be taken further.