Amaravati: Generally, a file in a government department is approved only after passing through four to five stages, starting from the secretary to the lowest level. If any doubt is raised at any of the stages, the department has to revert the file to the department concerned.
However, in Andhra Pradesh, with the directive of former Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy, the power department approved a file worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore in seven hours. That, too, at midnight.
It has been alleged that the finance department approved the power supply project file worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore in a hurry and it is being stated that the file could not have got clearance so fast had the government not exerted pressure on the departments.
It is being told that the power file was approved quickly after Gautam Adani, the chairman of Adani Group, met the then Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy. Now a serious allegation has surfaced that Adani gave a bribe of Rs 1,750 crore to Jagan for this agreement. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Adani of fraud and bribery, alleging that a bribe was paid by Adani to Jagan in this power agreement.
At 5.30 pm on September 15, 2021, all offices were closed, but employees of the Energy Department, Finance Department and Andhra Pradesh Green Energy Corporation Limited continued to work. The reason was that the government had ordered Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to send the file to the Cabinet meeting, which was to be held the next day.
According to experts, this agreement was not benefitting the state, but an additional Rs 1.10 lakh crore will be imposed on people in 25 years. The US investigation agency has alleged that Jagan received bribes through the SECI agreement. Also, there are allegations that several dramatic developments took place while preparing the file on that day.
It has also come to light that SECI, which supplied electricity to the Gujarat government at Rs 1.90 per unit, signed a similar agreement to supply electricity to Andhra Pradesh at Rs 2.90 per unit. The Jagan government officials did not even suspect why the same company would offer one price to Gujarat and another to Andhra Pradesh. The current government says that this price difference has now strengthened the argument that corruption has taken place.
The Jagan government had called for tenders to set up 10 gigawatts of solar projects. However, it was decided to buy electricity from SECI as an alternative as there was a possibility of delay in setting up the projects.
It has been found that the Andhra Pradesh government did not conduct a thorough study before finalising the agreement. It should have studied the benefits the government would get if the state bought electricity, whether the price at which electricity was bought would benefit or incur a loss for the government and what kind of financial burden it put on the people.
Without doing any such calculations, the Jagan government prepared the project file within a few hours. A few hours after Adani's request, the proposal was put before the Cabinet and approved.
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