Gujarat lost Rs 26,000 cr in power purchase scam, alleges Congress

BJP govt accused of buying power from Adani, Essar, Tata and China Light & Power at higher rates

The Congress party has alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Gujarat government "squandered Rs 26,000 crore of the public exchequer" by purchasing electricity from four private companies at "unimaginably high rates".

The companies in question, according to party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, are Adani, Essar, Tata and China Light & Power. None of the companies responded to the allegations, made in Ahmedabad.

The reported payments are Rs 10,896 crore to Adani, Rs 4,282 crore to Essar, Rs 8,491 crore to Tata and Rs 1,966 crore to China Light, over 2013-16. Spokespersons for the energy department of Gujarat and officials in Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam did not respond.

Surjewala said state-owned power plants had a capacity to generate 8,641 Mw but were operated at a mere 33-38 per cent capacity in those three years. He said power was bought from these private companies at Rs 24.67 a unit, many times more than what was charged by the government-owned NTPC.