Power scam: House panel pins Shobha for causing Rs 1,046 cr loss

DHNS
November 22, 2017

Belagavi Nov 22: In what appears to be a tit-for-tat move, a Legislative Assembly committee headed by Energy Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday indicted BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje for causing a loss of Rs 1,046 crore by favouring a private firm when she was the energy minister in the BJP government.

The House committee set up to look into irregularities in power purchases between 2004 and 2014, has recommended "appropriate probe" into Shobha's actions when she was the energy minister in the government headed by B S Yeddyurappa. The committee tabled its report in the Assembly on Tuesday.

The report is seen in the political circles as a counter to the BJP, which had recently accused Shivakumar of being involved in a Rs 447-crore coal scam.

In 2009, the state government initiated the process of long-term (25 years) purchase of 2,000 mw from private companies. Five companies made bids, and this was placed before the Cabinet for final approval in May 2011. This included JSW Energy Limited, which quoted Rs 3.812 per unit for 25 years.

"The then energy minister Shobha Karandlaje opined that the per-unit cost that companies quoted was more compared with that of other states. Hence, the tender was cancelled. Subsequently, the government purchased power from JSW Energy at high rates and not Rs 3.812 per unit it had earlier quoted," the report states.

From 2011 to 2013, a total of 12,038.75 MU was purchased from JSW Energy costing Rs 1,046 crore. Power was purchased at Rs 4.41 to Rs 4.99 per unit during this period, the report observed.

The committee also flagged a land deal involving the same company. "When seen in the backdrop of power being purchased at a high cost, it is suspicious that JSW Energy purchased land by paying more than what it was valued at," the report said. However, it has not mentioned the details of the land deal.

The committee has also observed that JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy as the chief minister in October 2007 caused a loss of Rs 63 crore by approving an inflated contract for transportation of coal. Also, in 2007, the government purchased 40,195.31 mu power at a cost of Rs 7,882.92 crore. The very next year, the government purchased 41,821.26 MU for Rs 10,664.32 crore - an additional Rs 2,781 crore.

Interestingly, the committee has not recommended any probe into irregularities that have happened during Kumaraswamy's tenure as the chief minister. His elder brother H D Revanna was the energy minister then.

Also, between 2002 and 2008, the Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) incurred a loss of Rs 1,590.31 because of coal washing contracts. From 2004 to 2014, the state government failed to utilise 3,844 MU supplied from central power plants costing Rs 899.50 crore. In the same period, the state lost 1,05,508 MU in transmission losses.

All put together, irregularities in power purchases have caused Rs 6,379 crore losses.

"The committee recommends the government to identify those responsible for causing losses to the exchequer and initiate action against them."

Comments

SHAJI
 - 
Thursday, 23 Nov 2017

This hate monger lady had earned crores of rupees illegaly while she was minister.  CBI should investigate her income + property + bank acconts both in india and switzerland.   She had done no favor to public, but to herself by increasing her wealth.   she should be arrested immediately.

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News Network
April 28,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 28: Trucks carrying fish loads from Kerala will not be allowed to enter Dakshina Kannada district as the authorities are not being able to control the rush in markets, state Fisheries Minister and district-in-charge Kota Srinivas Poojary said Monday.

The deputy commissioner has been instructed to restrict the entry of fish transport vehicles from outside the district forthwith, in view of the difficulty in maintaining social distancing at the markets identified in the district, the minister told reporters here.

The coastal district has to take more precautionary measures to fight COVID-19 as the number of positive cases have risen in the last couple of days, he said.

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News Network
June 19,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 18: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah has accused the BJP-led government of not passing the benefit of the low price of crude to the common man and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to bring down prices of petroleum products.

Hitting out at the BJP-led government, he termed it as "opportunistic" and said the price of petroleum products were being increased when people were facing difficulties due to COVID-19.

"It is very disheartening to witness and unprecedented opportunistic government which is trying to extract every pound and flesh from the common man, that too when the whole country is suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in the backdrop of the continuous price hike in the last 10 days," said the letter was written on Wednesday.

The Congress leader said that the policy decisions taken by the government "with respect to managing fuel sources are inconsistent with the prudent measures generally adopted".

"When the price of crude oil was remarkably low in March, April and May 2020, your government was very reluctant to pass on the benefits to the people by reducing the fuel prices proportionately, but, instead, your government continued to capitalise by increasing the excise duty," he said.

He said the government had also "failed" in the last six years to increase the oil storage capacity which could have been used for the country's advantage when the international crude oil price fell really low.

He said the government should roll back the excise duty and help in the reduction of fuel prices.

"The reduced burden will help the common man to have additional money in hand that will be spent on essential goods and services which will ultimately help them tide over these difficult times," he said.

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News Network
February 7,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 7: Karnataka's Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Services on Thursday issued guidelines for testing, isolation, hospital admission and discharge in view of the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) in Wuhan city of China, a virus that has infected nearly 20,000 globally and has killed more than 500 in China.

According to the guidelines, the sample of any passenger, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic, with a history of travel to or residence in Wuhan city of China in the last 14 days, has to be collected and tested.

And the sample of any health personnel, who develops symptoms of the virus after being associated with the infected persons, has to be collected.

The circular further says that the clinical sample of any suspect/probable case of nCoV will be sent to the laboratory confirmation and the case will be kept in isolation. If tested positive, the treatment has to be provided as per the existing guidelines.

The virus originated from Wuhan, a Chinese city, in December and has since then spread to various parts around the world.

China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate.

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