HYDERABAD: TPCC president A Revanth Reddy here on Monday alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao gobbled up around Rs 15,000 crore as commission by escalating the project cost of three thermal power plants - Kothagudem Thermal Power Station (Stage II) at Paloncha (800 MW), Bhadradri Thermal Power Station at Manuguru (1080 MW), and Yadadri Thermal Power Station at Damaracherla (5x800 MW) which were carried out at a cost of Rs 45,730 crore after the formation of Telangana State.
Speaking to media persons here, he said that the State government had spent Rs 9.7 crore for the construction of infrastructure to generate one MW thermal power, while the neighbouring Jharkhand State achieved it at a cost of Rs 5.5 crore.
“As a result of escalation of costs, the government suffered a loss of Rs 945 crore in the Kothagudem power plant, Rs 4,538 crore in the Bhadradri plant and Rs 9,384 crore in Yadadri. KCR has pocketed these amounts in the form of commissions which work out to Rs 15,000 crore. These are not my figures, but were the findings of a report of the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission,” Revanth said while addressing a press conference.
He alleged that the civil works in the construction of thermal power plants were given to private companies though PSUs like BHEL would have offered to execute them at a lower cost. Stating that BHEL lowered the bid price by 18 per cent and secured the tender in Jharkhand for similar work in 2017, Revanth said that the tender process for the thermal power plants started more or less at the same time in the two States, and BHEL would have offered a similar bid in the case of Telangana.
Revanth accuses BRS govt of manipulating logbooks
He also alleged that while the Congress government passed a law banning sub-critical thermal power plant technology in 2011-12, the BRS regime procured the technology from a Gujarat-based company by taking a bribe of Rs 1,000 crore.
He also alleged that the works were handed over to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s “friends” while technically handing over the tender to BHEL. He demanded that the State government reveal the value of works entrusted to private companies from BHEL.
Accusing the State government of manipulating the logbooks in electricity substations, Revanth said that not more than 10 hours of power supply is being given to the agriculture sector, and gave a call to his party cadres to tie BRS leaders and MLAs to trees or confine them in Rythu Vedhika buildings and question them on the non-implementation of loan waiver, non-provision of 24-hour free power supply as promised.
Coming down heavily on IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao for making comments against Rahul Gandhi, Revanth challenged the former to give the meaning for the Telangana terms used in farming.