Judicial Inquiry Into Irregularities In Power Sector During BRS Rule

Reiterating that the previous BRS government had never supplied 24-hour power to the agriculture sector and that it was moreover involved in large-scale corruption in the power sector, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Thursday announced in the Assembly that his government was ready for a judicial inquiry into the irregularities in the purchase of electricity from Chhattisgarh, the Bhadradri power plant and the Yadadri power plant.

Reddy said that he had accepted the challenge of former minister G Jagadish Reddy for a judicial inquiry to establish the facts.

"BRS leaders are under the impression that they are counter-attacking the State government. The Congress government has scanned the entire energy department and is now presenting the facts in the House. The previous BRS government should accept the facts in a dignified manner," he said.

Reddy said that the previous government had entered the Chhattisgarh agreement without tenders, and that opposition MLAs were thrown out of the Assembly by marshals for fighting the agreement. An official was also demoted and posted in a remote area for releasing the facts on the agreement, he claimed.

"The previous government entered an agreement with Chhattisgarh for 1,000 MW power supply. Due to this agreement, the State government is now incurring a burden of Rs 1,362 crore. The previous government had also entered an agreement with an outdated company to establish the Yadadri thermal power project. The company used expired sub-critical technology, and that resulted in huge losses for the government. Thousands of crores of corruption took place in the project. Similarly, there was large-scale corruption in the execution of the Bhadradri thermal power project, too," Reddy claimed.

"I am saying from the Assembly that I will order a judicial inquiry into corruption in the Chhattisgarh agreement, and the Bhadradri and Yadadri power projects. Moreover, the government will constitute a fact-finding committee with all parties on the 24-hour power supply claim," the CM said.