The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Thursday demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the purchase of electric transformers allegedly at an inflated cost by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
Addressing the media, TDP Polit Bureau member Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy said the party would wage a legal battle to expose the ‘‘massive scam’‘ in the purchase of electric transformers. “The DISCOMs had suffered huge losses and power consumers were forced to bear the brunt of hefty hikes in power tariff in the form of true-up charges, fixed charges etc.,“ he alleged.
The senior TDP leader demanded an explanation from the State government for buying the transformers from select manufacturers based in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, ignoring reputed firms across India. These manufacturers had formed a cartel and jacked up the prices of transformers abnormally, he charged.
He recalled that the then TDP regime had imposed a penalty of ₹178 crore on a firm named ‘Shirdi Sai‘ for allegedly supplying substandard transformers. However, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government has suppressed the facts and awarded contracts to it though it was ineligible to participate in tenders, he contended.
Making a presentation, he said the price of a 25 KVA transformer had been jacked up to ₹1,78,800 under the YSR Congress Party regime (2022-23) from ₹58,569 under the TDP regime in 2018-19, an increase of 305%. Incidentally, the Telangana government had purchased the 25 KVA transformers for only ₹79,829 each during 2022-23, which reflects a price difference of Rs ₹98,971 and an escalation of 223.98%, he explained.
Similarly, a 63 KVA transformer was purchased for ₹2,81,000 by the YSRCP government while the rate during the TDP regime was ₹89,892 only, an escalation of 312.60%. In Telangana, the same was purchased at ₹1,22,936 only, a price difference of ₹1,58,064. In case of 100 KVA transformers, the cost was only ₹1.20 lakh per unit during the previous TDP regime and the present government bought the same at a whopping ₹3.58 lakh. In Telangana, its price was only ₹1,86,505. The 160 KVA transformers were being purchased for ₹6,36,000 now as against ₹2,00,790 during the previous TDP rule, an increase of 316.75%. Incidentally, Telangana procured the same for ₹3,13,533. With regard to 315 KVA transformers, the price difference during TDP regime and YSRCP rule was a mind boggling ₹11,03,748. While the YSRCP government bought each transformer for ₹16,75,000 as against ₹5,71,252 during the previous TDP regime, the price of this transformer in Telangana was ₹8,60,277, Mr. Chandramohan Reddy said.
