Lokayukta set to probe Rs 500 crore power scam in MP
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TNN | Dec 30, 2011,
0BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta is preparing to probe an alleged Rs 500 crore scam involving purchase of sub-standard equipment, including transformers, studs and clamps, by all three state-run power distribution companies (discoms).

The Lokayukta will also investigate the charge that this led to a sharp rise in the failure rates of transformers, messing up rural power infrastructure and hitting even the centrally-sponsored Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme (RGGVY).

Lokayukta sources said the complaint was being examined and action could follow after the initial process is completed.

The complaint was filed by Jabalpur based Nagarik Upabhokta Margadarshak Manch (NUMM), a consumer protection NGO. It says the failure rate of transformers in the power-starved rural areas of MP installed under the RGGVY scheme for providing rural electricity infrastructure and household electrification, rose to an unusual 30 per cent during the last couple of years.

This, according to it, was because substandard transformers, studs and clamps were bought by the East, Central and West power discoms.

"The scam involves factories, manufacturers, contractors, purchase officers _ and laboratories engaged in the testing of transformers. A huge number of these transformers, installed under RGGVY, are now lying in disrepair in the rural areas", Dr P G Nagpande of NUMM told TOI over telephone from Jabalpur.

The complaint say the modus operandi was to purchase sub-standard transformers on the basis of false or fake test reports from state electricity department's own testing labs as well from private laboratories instead of the two central government run laboratories in Bhopal and in Gujarat, which, the complainant claimed, is the standard practice. That apart, only a few transformers were actually tested, and the test reports were manipulated for the rest by inserting serial numbers of untested transformers. A huge lot of transformers procured from an Andhra Pradesh- based firm turned out to be faulty, the complaint claimed.

Moreover, the number of transformers bought too did not tally, which the Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (MPSERC) had pointed out in its tariff orders of March 2007 and March 2009. The SERC had asked the discoms to find out and report why and how this happenerd, but nothing was done.

The complaint added that about four lakh transformers were purchased by the three discoms while studs and clamps worth about Rs 100 crore were bought from people who were not even registered suppliers or small scale industries. It also alleged that the studs and clamps were designed locally and the product supplied were not according to prescribed specifications