Rs 2,872 crore scam alleged in AP thermal power plants
Maulik Bharat Trust has alleged a Rs 2,872-crore scam.
By : m. roushan ali
Update: 2016-01-04 07:36 GMT
Hyderabad: Noida-based civil society organisation Maulik Bharat Trust has alleged a Rs 2,872-crore scam in the two 800 MW thermal plants proposed to be built at Krishnapatnam and Vijayawada in AP. In a letter to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, trust national vice-president Captain Vikas Gupta (retired) alleged that AP Genco had prepared “tailor-made” prequalification norms that resulted in short-listing of two companies which quoted high prices, and sought an investigation.
Giving comparative figures of contracts awarded by power utilities in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana and by the NTPC over the last few months, he said the EPC contract per MW ranged between Rs 4.76 crore and Rs 3.94 crore. “The restricted competition has resulted in the AP government ending up with the lowest bid of Rs 6.3 crore for the Krishnapatnam project and Rs 5.85 crore for the Vijayawada facility,” he said.
The AP government not only deviated from its own standard pre-qualification norms practised for years but also diverged from the tender norms of NTPC that is accepted by most state-owned power utilities, Mr Gupta said. He added that the AP government was considering awarding the projects to BGR Energy and Tata Power.
Reacting to the allegations, APGenco CMD K. Vijayanand said: “The tenders have not been finalised and some people are levelling allegations that the project is being allotted to entities that have quoted abnormally higher cost. All rules have been followed and if anyone thinks there is foul play, they can go to the court.”
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