Chandrababu’s wind power scam, AP lost Rs 11,625 cr through 41 PPAs in TDP rule
Chandrababu Naidu’s government in Andhra Pradesh between 2014 and 19 came under cloud on several occasions, thanks to a swarm of scams and pilferages from the exchequer.
These scandals had severely tarnished his government’s credibility among the public. Naidu’s tentacles of greed and corruption were so strong and more powerful than the Octopus arms, that they could reach and penetrate every area of development where there is slightest of scope for corruption. Even if there wasn’t any, he would invent one…! And this is exactly how, he could extract great ‘mileage’ (read swindling) even from wind power purchases.
The wind power purchase agreements during Chandrababu Naidu’s regime came under the scanner shedding light on how the ‘self-styled CEO’ brazenly opened the doors for massive-scale misappropriation. The 41 controversial power purchase agreements (PPAs) that his government entered into to buy wind power were in complete contravention to established practices.
Despite being a chief minister, he paid scant respect to the regulations governing the PPAs. He hardly listened to senior officials who expressed serious concerns about the prudence of his decision in this regard.
The crux of these concerns centred around Naidu’s bulldozing decision to purchase power generated from wind mills at an unusually exorbitant price. The TDP chief went ahead with these 41 PPAs to buy wind power at a staggering Rs 4.84 per unit even at a time when electricity from conventional sources was available for only Rs 2.43 per unit…!
In effect, the state ended up paying Rs 2.41 more per every unit of wind power purchased through these PPAs. This defies the basic logic and begs the question as to what was the need to go for expensive wind power when electricity from other sources was available for half its price. And there was no dire need to press the panic button and purchase power in desperation.
What had motivated Chandrababu Naidu so strongly to flout the norms without batting an eye lid is a no-brainer. In fact, it is anybody’s guess..!
A whopping total of Rs 11,625 crores were looted in this fashion from the state’s exchequer during four years of Naidu’s rule in Andhra Pradesh. The mind-boggling move of Chandrababu Naidu to tamper with wind power purchases has come under scrutiny soon after the regime change in Andhra Pradesh.
A cabinet sub-committee was formed to get to the roots of the Naidu-time scam and fix accountability and responsibility for the funds pilfered from the state’s exchequer.