NGO Arappor Iyakkam on Tuesday claimed that Tangedco had caused a loss of ₹6,066 crore to the State government due to faulty coal import practices between October 2012 and February 2016.
In making the claim, the NGO revised upwards its own estimate of a coal import scam in Tangedco, made in January this year.
The NGO’s convenor, Jayaram Venkatesan, submitted a complaint about the scam — revealed using documents sourced through Right to Information queries and findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India — to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption on August 6.
The organisation alleged that a former Electricity Minister and a former Tangedco Managing Director colluded to benefit from the scam.
“I submit that a case under Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and other relevant laws may be registered against them and all other public servants involved and the companies that colluded in carrying out this scam, resulting in a heavy loss for the exchequer,” said the complaint.
In January, Arappor Iyakkam claimed that Tangedco had caused a loss of between ₹1,700 and ₹3,025 crore by over-invoicing the government for coal imported from Indonesia during 2012-2016.
On Tuesday, the NGO rounded off that loss to ₹2,177 crore and added two other loss-making methods to inflate the size of the scam.
The NGO took a leaf out of the CAG’s report, where the latter had chastised Tangedco for not conducting reverse auction.
