Former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has been served notices by Justice L Narasimha Reddy Commission as part of the probe into alleged irregularities in Power Purchasing Agreements (PPAs) with the Chhattisgarh government in 2015. The Commission refused KCR’s request to extend the deadline for responding to the notices till July 30 and instructed him to provide an explanation before June 15.
The Commission is investigating corruption in the PPAs made by the previous government with Chhattisgarh, as well as the construction of Bhadradri and Yadadri thermal power projects. Notices have been issued to 25 individuals, including KCR, former Transco and Genco CMD D Prabhakar Rao, former Energy Secretaries Suresh Chanda and Arvind Kumar, and some Transco Directors involved in finalizing the power supply deal with the Chhattisgarh government.
Most officials have already appeared before the Commission and given their statements. The former CM requested more time to appear before the commission and provided a written response to questions regarding the PPAs. The Commission suspects irregularities in the PPAs because power suppliers were not invited through competitive bidding, and agreements were finalized unilaterally without considering market power prices at that time.
The Commission noted that the previous government violated power policies set by the Union government by entering into the PPAs. The Energy Secretary at that time, Arvind Kumar, raised concerns about the PPAs but was transferred for opposing government decisions. Another former Secretary, SK Joshi, also clarified doubts before the Commission.
Justice Narasimha Reddy emphasized that the Commission’s main focus was on investigating the PPAs and the construction of two thermal power projects. Details were requested regarding permission to construct sub-critical thermal projects instead of super-critical projects.
