AP Genco should run Nelaturu power plant: EAS Sarma

EAS Sarma has observed that any proposal of handing over the operation and maintenance of Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station (SDSTPS) to a private company is detrimental to the interests of the State, a

Visakhapatnam: Former Union Secretary EAS Sarma has observed that any proposal of handing over the operation and maintenance of Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station (SDSTPS) to a private company is detrimental to the interests of the State, and urged the state government to entrust the responsibility to APGenco which has a proven record.

In a letter addressed to Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Thursday, he said it was sad that he should raise this issue on the same day when the CM was “dedicating” the 800 MW unit of Stage II of the power project to the nation! “From what I gather from news reports and other sources, the State government is considering a well known, favourite private business house, through a highly non-transparent procedure, to take over the O&M of the power station. I will not be surprised if that very same business house also owns coal mines overseas and will be providing coal from those coal mines for the power station, which has been cleared for a mix of indigenous/ imported coal,” he stated.

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Noting that in the past, all such private groups from India supplying coal to domestic power plants were facing allegations of over-invoicing coal and making false electricity tariff claims for laundering money, he said that there were investigations undertaken by the Enforcement Directorate and others against them. Against that background, if one of such business houses were to run SDSTPS, it is possible that the consumers of AP would be forced to pay for electricity generated from over-invoiced coal, he feared.

“APGENCO is perhaps the best performing generation company in the country and the best alternative for the State would have been to entrust the operation of SDSTPS to that utility. No one else can operate the plant at higher efficiency levels. The State government should consult APGenco on ways and means to reduce the cost of coal supplied to SDSTPS and to enhance its operational efficiency to minimise the unit cost to the consumers, instead of handing over the plant to a private business house to permit that business house to profiteer at the cost of the consumers,” Dr. Sarma said.

He also observed that handing over the O&M of SDSTPS on a nomination basis to a private party would constitute an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act and he would be constrained to seek judicial intervention in case the state government committed such an offence.