Raj govt paid ₹35k cr more to pvt power firms: Cong
All India Congress Committee in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday alleged that the BJP government in Rajasthan paid ~35,440 crore to private power companies, helping them make massive profits.
Addressing a press conference at party’s state office, Sujewala said, “Shocking revelations of profiteering by four private electricity companies in Rajasthan at the cost of state exchequer and 7.5 crore people reek of a ‘huge scam in power purchase’. RTI (right to information) documents reveal the sinister game of the Raje government, which ensured that state-owned power companies suffered losses, even as power companies of crony friends of the BJP profited at their expense.”
He claimed that RTI documents show people “suffering a whopping loss of ~6,670 crore by purchasing electricity at 100% above the contracted rates”.
“The culture of crony capitalism perpetuated, propagated and promoted by the Vasundhara Raje government can be gauged from the fact that the BJP government purchased 94,188 million more units of power from private companies, paying an astronomical ~35,440.11 crore more. The Congress government between 2008 and 2013 purchased 17,243.33 million units and spent ~6,526.33 crore, while the BJP government between purchased 1,11,431.54 million units to spend ~41,966.44 crore since 2013,” Surjewala said.
He alleged that in five years, the Raje government spent ~25,951.75 crore of public money to buy power from three major private companies — Raj West Power Limited (a subsidiary company of Sajjan Jindal), Adani Power Rajasthan Ltd, and Coastal Gujarat.
He said the agreement with West Power was to buy electricity at ~2.089 per unit, but the government purchased at ~4.06 per unit — with Adani Power (at ~3.66 per unit against ~3.24), and with Coastal Gujarat (at ~2.42 per unit without any agreement in place).
BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said the Congress had left the state-run power companies “bankrupt, with them facing a loss of ~76,000 crore”. “During their regime, villages were getting electricity for 4-6 hours and cities for 12 hours, but villages now get electricity for 22 hours.”
Intensifying his campaign, Congress president Rahul Gandhi will hold public meetings and road shows in four districts of Rajasthan on Saturday.
Gandhi will arrive in Udaipur at 9 am and will meet youth and business leaders. BJP’s Rajasthan incharge Avinash Pande and state Congress president Sachin Pilot will accompany him, said Congress spokesperson Satyendra Singh Raghav.
Udaipur is the heart of the Mewar region that accounts for 28 seats. In 2013, the BJP swept the region by winning 23 seats, while the Congress managed only two seats. This time the Congress is looking to win a majority of seats in the region.
HTC
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