It is daylight robbery, fumes Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, slamming power tariff hike

Thiruvananthapuram: Corruption and daylight robbery are the reasons behind the hike in electricity tariffs, alleged senior congress leader and former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. While speaking to reporters, he alleged that the cancellation of long-term agreements for electricity at lower rates and the subsequent procurement of electricity at more than double the price are the root causes of the current crisis and price hike. He accused power generation companies of engaging in fraudulent practices.

"The long-term contracts, which provided electricity at rates ranging from ₹4.15 to ₹4.29 per unit, were canceled and replaced with agreements costing between ₹10.25 and ₹14.30 per unit. This has resulted in massive losses for the electricity board, and that burden is now being imposed on the people," Chennithala said.

He further pointed out that, in 2016, Aryadan Mohammed signed 25-year agreements for 465 MW, which the government canceled in 2023. The Regulatory Commission cited trivial reasons for the cancellation, he said.  Chennithala alleged that Wilson, the private secretary of then Power Minister M.M. Mani, and Pradeep, the general secretary of the CPM Officers' Association, were members of the Regulatory Commission and were involved in the decision.

"Adani is the biggest beneficiary of this move. Such massive corruption could only happen during the tenure of the Pinarayi government. To bring Adani Power into Kerala's power purchase scenario, the UDF-era low-cost contracts had to be canceled. The government must reveal the conspiracies that enabled this and identify who was behind it," Chennithala demanded.