Probe panel grills former 'babus' on PPAs entered by BRS govt

Hyderabad: Justice L Narasimha Reddy Commission on thermal projects and PPAs ( power purchase agreements ) during the BRS regime speed up the investigation on Monday. The commission grilled former TRANSCO and GENCO MD D Prabhakar Rao and former energy secretaries Suresh Chanda and Arvind Kumar, who appeared before it.

Reddy recorded their statements on PPAs entered by the government with Chhattisgarh. The PPAs between the two States had received strong criticism. The Opposition parties alleged that top leaders in Telangana government indulged in corruption in the PPAs.

Sources said Prabhakar Rao and the former energy secretaries explained about the agreements and clarified doubts raised by the commission. Arvind Kumar is learnt to have told the commission his unwillingness to sign MoU with Chhattisgarh on PPAs during his tenure as energy secretary. As a result, he was removed from the post immediately by the then CM.

The commission also looked at construction of critical thermal power projects at Damaracherla and Kothagudem without taking proper environment clearances. It enquired into the BRS government’s reluctance to take up super critical thermal units and favoured taking up only critical thermal units by ordering BHEL to supply equipment without inviting tenders from other agencies.