BEST clears Rs 963cr power contracts despite opposition

MUMBAI: Pandemonium broke out during the BEST committee meeting on Wednesday as the opposition accused the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP of corruption in "hastily clearing" solar energy contracts worth Rs 963 crore.

"It shows how the ruling party is not clean when it comes to procuring clean energy . We don't know the background of the companies, their experience in the business , their share capital and the projects' feasibility. Yet, the matter was not kept for a discussion as requested by us. There is no clarity on penalty clause and the panel members were not shown the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), which is yet to be signed," said Congress member Ravi Raja.

Members of the Sena and the BJP denied the charges and termed them baseless.

The MNS members, too, raised their voices and walked out in protest just as the contracts were cleared in favour of two companies—a Raigadbased energy firm for 20 MW capacity and a Satara-based company for 10 MW capacity.

Said BEST committee chairperson Ashok Patil, who is from the Sena, "There was nothing wrong in clearing the proposal. We have strict directives from Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) to procure power from renewable energy sources as per the Renewable Purchase Obligation (8% of total power) by March-end or pay a hefty penalty. We cannot delay it any longer. Our efforts to procure solar power from Maha-Genco failed as it demanded a higher rate of Rs 15.61 per unit. In comparison, the two companies we favoured on Wednesday will provide us solar power for Rs 8.56 per unit for the next 25 years. We will also be able to overcome the power shortfall since 2010-11."

Said a BEST official, "The 25-year contract is justified as no company will supply solar power for a lesser tenure."

As per MERC directive, BEST needs to procure 8% of its power from renewable energy sources in 2012-13 of which 0.25% is from solar energy . BEST may purchase 25 MW from a bio-mass-based project by January-end , an official told the panel.

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