Arappor Iyakkam has filed a complaint with the Director, Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), alleging that the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) would lose more than ₹1 lakh crore by signing long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with private power producers for 15 years.
In the complaint, Jayaram Venkatesan, convener of Arappor Iyakkam, submitted several documents, including the CAG report, a TNERC order by its retired member Nagalsamy, State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) data, and the relevant clauses that were available for terminating PPAs.
He has also calculated the loss for 15 years from 2013 to 2028, and made a case against the then Electricity Minister Natham R. Viswanathan, the present Minister P. Thangamani and senior electricity officials.
Mr. Venkatesan wanted to know why the relevant CAG audit report of 2017-18, which clearly shows that more than ₹30,000 crore loss has been caused from 2013 to 2018, had not yet been tabled in the Assembly for discussion.
In the 19-page complaint filed to DVAC, Arappor Iyakkam said Tangedco officials had failed to adopt the Merit Order Despatch (MOD) for purchasing power.
Other complaints include failure to draw low-cost power from central generating stations, failure to levy liquidity damages against delayed commencement by private producers, violation of various guidelines of the Electricity Act, and the failure of the evaluation committee to disqualify five companies for not meeting the minimum and maximum ratio of energy charges.
Need for PPAs doubted
The complaint also raised questions about the necessity to sign PPAs against the TNERC order of Mr. Nagalsamy, who said the average cost of ₹4.91 per unit was too high. S. Akshay Kumar (chairperson of TNERC) and G. Rajagopal (member of TNERC) had approved the PPAs after the retirement of Mr. Nagalsamy.
Mr. Venkatesan said Mr. Akshay Kumar and Mr. Rajagopal were on the Board of Directors of Tangedco and were directly involved in the proposal to go in for long-term power purchase agreements. The complaint also shows the projected loss of ₹46,875 crore Tangedco would incur if the PPAs are fully executed till 2028-29.
