KSEB to pay another Rs 1000 crore to private companies

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: KSEB is readying moves to break the basic norms of purchasing electricity from private companies. Several cases are piled up in court but the department looks to overlap them with splurging crores to the pocket of private companies.

As of now, KSEB buys electricity worth Rs 8000 crore from private companies on a yearly basis. Now, Jhabua private limited which gives thermoelectricity to the state will be given Rs 1000 crore. KSEB has a contract of Rs 9000 crore with the firm that will see the two tied up for long 25 years. Economically, things are going south for the state and the government looks ahead to pay these crores which is sure to push the state into a further quagmire.

From April 1, the state is going to hike the tariffs on electricity. The central government has also warned about the stoppage of electricity if the government fails to pay the arrears to the private players. Rajasthan, Telangana, Jammu Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh are the few that the center termed as states having high arrears to pay private companies for electricity. Kerala has not bagged a spot in the list but the current moves from the government are a sure-shot attempt to clinch a spot at the latest.

P Shivashankar, the gold scam accused was the board chairman during 2014-15 times when the contract was signed between Jhabua and the government. The regulatory commission denied approval citing errors but the board went ahead with the contract. The commission then found irregularities in electricity purchases in 2018-22 times and estimated a loss of Rs 234 crores during this time. The commission has asked the government to go ahead with punitive actions against the culprits involved but nothing has happened since.

Now, the government looks to stop payment to Jhabua citing the regulatory commission's order. Jhabua meanwhile has filed a case against the commission's intervention that has inflicted huge losses for the company.