Continuing his tirade against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government over its purchase of power from the Adani group, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Saturday said that the government was misleading the people of the State.
Addressing reporters in Haripad, Mr. Chennithala said that apart from purchasing power from the Adani Green Energy through a deal signed with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) recently entered into a separate direct agreement with the Adani group to buy electricity in April and May 2021.
The Leader of the Opposition, other than furnishing a copy of the minutes of the KSEB’s full-time director board meeting held on February 15, did not divulge further details on the fresh charges.
He alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had directly intervened to facilitate the agreements.
On the agreement signed between the KSEB and SECI, which paved the way for Adani Green Energy to supply power to the State, Mr. Chennithala said that there was no need to buy electricity at an exaggerated rate of ₹2.82 per unit for the next 25 years in the name of Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO).
“Kerala is considered a power surplus State. In order to abide by the RPO, it could have opted to buy Renewable Energy Certificate at a rate of ₹1 per unit. But that option was overlooked, and it decided to buy Adani’s costlier wind-generated energy. That too when cheap solar and other renewable energy sources are available. By entering into the deal, the government has paved the way for Adani to loot the State. It is set to make a profit of ₹1,000 crore,” he said.
Mr. Chennithala alleged that the Chief Minister was helping Adani for political and monetary benefits. “The government decided to buy power at a higher rate to help Adani while expecting the Centre to derail ongoing investigations against the Chief Minister and government by Central agencies. Adani is acting as a bridge between Pinarayi Vijayan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
The Leader of the Opposition said that the LDF government had pushed the State into a debt trap.
He refuted claims of Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac that the government was leaving office with a surplus of ₹5,000 crore in the treasury.
“In the last five years, the government had borrowed ₹1,63,630 crore. On March 30, 2021, it took a loan of ₹4,000 crore. Further, it plans to borrow another ₹2,000 crore. The Finance Minister is referring to the borrowed amount as surplus,” Mr. Chennithala said.
