Madhya Pradesh energy department awards Rs 180-crore contract to kin of power minister, Congress alleges scam

The Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam has empaneled a company owned by the state energy minister's family for rooftop solar plant installation. The Opposition Congress has alleged that a scam is being perpetrated under the Shivraj Singh Chouhan BJP government.

The minister and his family, however, have said that the process of awarding the contract was transparent and have brushed aside allegations of conflict of interest.

The Urja Vikas Nigam has earmarked Rs 180 crores for solar installation plants and the company Infinity Energy Solutions, owned by the daughter and daughter-in-law of energy minister Paras Jain, has already been completed work worth Rs 3 crores.

Paras Jain is the minister for Power and New and Renewable energy in Madhya Pradesh. His daughter Swati and daughter-in-law Pooja run the company called Infinity energy solutions that works in the field of solar energy.

The Urja Vikas Nigam for first issued a tender for installing of a rooftop solar grid in June 2016. In July 2016, Infinity Solutions got the sales tax TIN (a number that dealers who must pay VAT need to get).

It is being alleged that under pressure from Paras Jain, the deadline for tender applications was extended twice to ensure participation of Infinity Energy sSolutions.

The tender was finally awarded in December 2016 when Infinity Energy Solutions was chosen for the 30-megawatt solar plant installation project worth Rs 180 crores. The company has already executed works worth over Rs 3 crores.

The minister's daughter-in-law Pooja, however, sees nothing wrong in her working in the energy sector. "There was complete transparency in the tendering process. The tenders were issued online and we got orders because we had quoted the lowest rates," Pooja said, while talking to India Today.

Paras Jain has been the Madhya Pradesh power minister since July 2016 and even though he technically oversees the Urja Vikas Nigam, Paras Jain sees nothing wrong in his daughter and daughter-in-law working for the energy department.

"First of all I have nothing to do with the tendering process. The company was formed before I became the energy minister and secondly there was complete transparency in the tendering process. I Just want to ask one question... do children of ministers have no right to do business with transparency and as per law?" Paras Jain said, while talking to India Today.

The opposition Congress, however, is not convinced with the minister's stand and has called it yet another scam from the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.

"What transparency is the minister talking about, it is his department in which his family members are being awarded tenders worth crores. The minister should immediately resign as the chief minister talks about zero tolerance for corruption," Congress spokesman KK Mishra while talking to India Today said.

CM Chouhan has not yet spoken on the issue.