The Legislative Assembly on Monday was almost unanimous when the Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy demanded that the State government constitute a House committee to look into the alleged mismanagement of the power sector, resulting in the Escoms reeling under losses during the governance of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Participating in the debate on the grants for the Energy Department, he said Bescom and Gescom had incurred a total loss of Rs. 7,833 crore and Rs.1,663 crore respectively during 2008-09 to 2012-13, and Cesco and Mesco Rs. 1,114 crore and Rs. 782 crore respectively during in the same period, taking the total losses in the power sector to Rs. 11,382 crore. He said the government had failed to book the power corridor in advance despite the State facing power shortage. Mr. Kumaraswamy said though Udupi Power Corporation Ltd. (UPCL) had an agreement signed with the government to sell power at Rs. 2.85 per unit, the latter had not only increased the tariff to Rs. 3.25 per unit, but also encouraged it to approach the Central Electricity Regulatory Authority to demand Rs. 4.50 per unit. He said the State had ended up paying higher tariff for the UPCL as it had failed to effectively submit its arguments before the CERC. This, he said, would impose an additional burden of Rs. 4,356 crore on the exchequer, every year.
