Former Union energy minister RK Singh, who has been at loggerheads with the BJP management ever since he misplaced the celebration ticket from Ara within the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, has alleged that the Nitish Kumar-led NDA authorities’s building of a thermal energy plant in Bhagalpur induced a lack of “Rs 62,000 crore” to the state exchequer.
In an interview with The Indian Categorical, Singh mentioned that in his tenure as energy minister, he had mentioned with trade consultants that the two,400 MW Pirpaintti energy undertaking in Bhagalpur can be “price about Rs 24,900 crore”, with an estimated price of Rs 1,000 crore per MW. “I discovered that the ability technology undertaking might be awarded at a hard and fast capital price of Rs 15,000 crore per MW…The worth of electrical energy per unit primarily based on the capital price of Rs 10,000,000 per MW got here to about Rs 2.75 per unit, however I The businesses agreed to pay the ability firm Rs 4.16 crore per unit.The annual further fee might be about Rs 2,500 billion.Because the contract is for 25 years, the state’s loss is anticipated to be round Rs 62,000 billion. ”
A former Bharatiya Janata Get together lawmaker mentioned he had raised the problem with the Nickel authorities however “there was no response.” “Please appropriate me if I am incorrect, however from my expertise as Minister of Energy for seven years, I can responsibly say that this undertaking wants a assessment.”
Adani Energy, which has been awarded the Pirpaintti undertaking, mentioned in a press release on Wednesday that the allegations are “completely baseless” and “mirror a misunderstanding of each the historical past of the undertaking and the clear course of undertaken by the Bihar authorities.” “It’s unlucky that some people and political pursuits dissatisfied with the elections try to unfold false and baseless narratives,” Adani Energy mentioned.
Bihar Industries Minister Nitish Mishra didn’t reply to a number of calls and textual content messages.
Mr Singh, 72, denied that his allegations have been associated to the continued parliamentary elections or the “so-called deterioration of relations with my celebration”. “It additionally has nothing to do with me being faraway from the Bihar ballot committee (of the Bharatiya Janata Get together). They’re additionally free to droop or expel me from the celebration for such statements,” he mentioned.
The previous minister added that he was solely talking about “issues that I perceive very nicely”: “I’m saying this now as a result of I just lately discovered about it. Just some days in the past, some vitality consultants raised pink flags about it.”
Adani Energy mentioned in a press release that the Bhagalpur undertaking has been stalled since 2012, when the Bihar Energy Technology Firm acquired the land for the event of a 2,400 MW energy plant. Over the previous decade, the federal government has made a number of makes an attempt to implement the undertaking, together with with public sector entities, however “none of them have materialized,” the corporate mentioned. In 2024, the Bihar authorities “opted for an open and clear aggressive bidding course of to lastly carry the undertaking to fruition.”
Adani Energy added that beneath the phrases of the bid, the land was leased fairly than ‘bought’ to the profitable bidder at a nominal lease in accordance with the Bihar Industrial Funding Promotion Coverage 2025. It added that Adani Energy was the “lowest” bidder, quoting Rs 6.075 per kWh out of a hard and fast tariff of Rs 4.165 and a gas cost of Rs 1.91 per kWh.
Singh’s allegations relating to energy initiatives come days after he requested Bharatiya Janata Get together chief and deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary and state celebration chief Dilip Jaiswal to “come clear” or “resign” over the allegations in opposition to them in opposition to Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor.
Mr Singh accepted his rising variations with “high leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Get together” and claimed his “emotions of insecurity” in direction of them date again to when he held a portfolio of energy shares and obtained hints that they “needed to favor sure firms”. “However I adopted the rulebook. I did not greenlight any fraudulent bids or overvalued initiatives.”
Singh additionally claimed that it’s clear that the BJP management doesn’t need him to win the 2024 polls and is supporting former Arara MP Meena Singh or her son for re-election to the seat. “Sales space’s brokers turned in opposition to me. When Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh (a Rajput like RK Singh) determined to contest elections from Karakat, which borders Ara, I requested the Bharatiya Janata Get together leaders to dissuade me because it might divide my voting base in two. However no heed was paid to me…I solely met the prime minister after my defeat and thanked him for giving me the vital activity.”
Concerning his remarks about Chaudhary after Kishor’s accusation, Singh mentioned, “I didn’t goal any explicit particular person. I solely mentioned that Mr. Samrat ought to reply to Mr. Prashant Kishor’s allegations. I ought to have mentioned whether or not there may be any felony case pending in opposition to Mr. Samrat. I then appealed to voters to not vote for candidates, together with Mr. Samrat, if they’ve a questionable previous.”
The BJP chief mentioned he has all the time raised his voice. “Ever since I used to be a bureaucrat, I’ve referred to as a spade a spade. I too served as an vital bureaucrat in CM Nitish Kumar’s first time period. I can even give my opinion to Nitish.”
