How Dy CM booted out Power Secretary for not signing illegal PPA with a dubious firm

A timeline of the IAS officer’s intimidation by Prime Minister Modi’s Baglihar host

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Nov 3: Principal Secretary Power Sandeep Nayak, who refused to sign an illegal Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a Jammu-based joint venture, was unceremoniously removed on October 19 when Dy Chief Minister and Power Minister Dr Nirmal Singh threatened to resign in case the IAS officer was not shifted from Power Development Department (PDD). Following is a timeline of the key developments from 2013 to 2015 November:

March 22, 2013

Science & Technology (S&T) Department of J&K government accords sanction to a five-member project approval committee to be headed by Commissioner-Secretary Science & Technology.

April 9, 2013

Without ascertaining  the applicant company’s experience in solar power generation and management, financial strength and ownership of the land as per guidelines of  the union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, S&T Department communicates approval to Chennai-based Thein India Energy Pvt Ltd (TIE) for setting up 100 mw grid connected photovoltaic solar power plant at Chann Arrorian, Kathua and advises the company to approach Power Development Department (PDD) for facilitation of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

June 20, 2013

S&T Department communicates to PDD that TEI has been approved for setting up the solar plant in Kathua. It requests PDD to initiate process for making PPA with TIE and requests DC Kathua to demarcate the land which TIE claims to acquire from a private source under rules.

September 2, 2013

Chief Engineer Systems & Operations (CESO) wing of PDD informs Power Commissioner about his team’s visit to the site to explore inter-connectivity. The team suggests inter-connectivity with 132-KV double-circuit Gladni-Hiranagar line for evacuation of the energy generated by the plant. “…decision needs to be taken immediately for bringing up infrastructure at 132 KV level for clubbing the generation from solar plant and PDD System,” the communication reads. “Investment required in this regard and estimation etc. shall be taken up separately with representatives of Independent Power Producer (IPP).”

October 4, 2013

S&T Department advises TIE to execute an “open access agreement” with PDD under the conditions laid down in J&K State Electricity Regulatory Commission – JKSERC (Open Access In Intra-state transmission and distribution) regulation act, 2006”. Under the Open Access agreement, independent power producers (IPPs) have right to wheel the energy to whichever destination they want at a fee. In J&K, three existing IPPs, owning three small power projects are using this facility to sell their energy to the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) of Government of India. PDD does not purchase their power for its being “expensive”.

April 21, 2015

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed takes the first review meeting of S&T and Information Technology (IT) Departments. Deputy CM and Power Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu, S&T Minister Sajjad Lone, IT Minister Imran Ansari and concerned administrative secretaries attend the meeting. On Sajjad Lone’s suggestion, CM desires PDD to facilitate PPA agreement at the rates issued, if any, by SERC. Drabu observes that PDD’s buying of solar power from TIE would a “challenging task” for its being expensive.  S&T Secretary pushes the proposal with the argument that State was bound to purchase solar power to the extent of 1.5% of the energy demand in 2015-16 “irrespective of the cost of energy”.  PDD is directed to constitute a high level committee for making draft of the State’s “Comprehensive Power Purchase Policy”

June 30, 2015:

Chief Executive Officer J&K Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA) advises TIE Chennai to take up the matter of signing of PPA with SERC and PDD. On the same day, TIE Chennai urges Principal Secretary Power Sandeep Nayak to initiate the process of signing the PPA.

July 7, 2015

Government constitutes 6-member committee for formulation of comprehensive Power Purchase Policy draft vide Government Order No: 140-PDD of 2015 with Principal Secretary Power as its Chairman. With 14 terms of reference, committee is asked to submit its recommendations within 6 weeks.

July 21, 2015

TIE Chennai makes its Kauthua plant a Joint Venture with Venayak Energy (VE) Jammu. The joint venture is named as Then Venayak Energy (TVE). As per the agreement, TIE will contribute 10% of the total investment  and own only 10% of the profit. Venayak holds 90% share and declares one Adil Mustafa Khan as its representative. The agreement is signed by Anirudh Chandel of Pacca Danga on behalf of TIE and Amarjeet Singh of Nanak Nagar on behalf of VE.

July 23, 2015

First meeting of PPP draft committee takes place. It decides to call three existing IPPs for presentation. Now a new “representative” Adil Khan surfaces on behalf of TVE and asks Principal Secretary Power Sandeep Nayak to initiate steps t for signing of PPA (without waiting for PPP committee’s draft and its subsequent approval by Cabinet).

July 24, 2015

TVE requests CM to direct PDD “to carry on with PPA at the earliest”.

July 31, 2015

Second meeting of PPP draft committee convened. Committee asks Government to surrender costly power of Central Generating Stations. CE Commercial & Survey asked to submit her first report within a week. On the same day, Deputy Director Planning in CM’s Secretariat Madan Gopal Sharma forwards TVE’s letter to Principal Secretary PDD and urges him to address the issues involving signing of PPA.

August 6, 2015

Without waiting for PPP draft and its adoption by Cabinet, TVE “representative” Adil Khan submits a 16-page PPA---all pages signed by him---to Principal Secretary Power Nayak and asks him to sign it. Khan claims he has made so-called PPA on the copy of an IPP’s agreement with West Bengal government. Significantly, within an hour on the same day, Dy CM and Power Minister Nirmal Singh’s OSD Shakti Pathak writes a note, flagged as MOST URGENT, to Principal Secretary Power Nayak and directs him on behalf of Dy CM “to take immediate necessary steps regarding signing the PPA with the developer..” With the PPP draft still awaited, Nayak seeks opinion from CE Commercial & Survey Wing of PDD Ms Shehnaz Goni.

[To be concluded tomorrow]

"Toofan ka aadmi hai, he is not communal at all", Chief Minister and PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed tells The Times Of India about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mufti says that the good thing about Modi is that he doesn't rely on IB alone, he takes advice from RSS. PDP's entire intellectual brigade should LIKE this post because never before has a J&K Chief Minister and head of a ruling party praised any Hindutva exponent in this manner. With this language of total, abject surrender and reneging on every word of the PDP ideology and manifesto, Rs one lakh crore from Modi would be just peanuts. I am sure, we are just three years short of the abrogation of 370 by way of losing 35A in Supreme Court with the help of our "visionaries"! Archive this post.

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Modi-is-not-communal-at-all-he-will-act-against-loose-canons-Mufti/articleshow/49622397.cms?from=mdr

Narendra Modi's visit on November 7 will be definitely, in Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s words, a "turning point in the history of Jammu and Kashmir", if he holds the rally at Sonwar without banning Syed Ali Shah Geelani's so-called "million march at TRC"; if 1,000 "potential troublemakers" across valley are not held captive in jails and Police stations; if Modi announces PDP's promises of "Self Rule", double currency, joint control mechanism, opening of Kargil-Skardu, Jammu-Sialkote and other trade and travel routes with Pakistan; if borders are made irrelevant and people of both sides permitted to travel across LoC and IB with just a State Subject certificate in hand; if Modi announces withdrawal of AFSPA and recalling all armed forces back to their barracks; if Modi accepts Jammu and Kashmir a disputed State and invites Pakistan for talks on its resolution; if Modi announces to punish delinquent troops and Police, particularly those identified in Pathribal massacre and 2010 summer turmoil killings; and, if Modi condemns the killing of Zahid in Udhampur and Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri and punishment to theie killers within a timeframe. Let us wait and watch what exactly is behind Mufti’s unprecedented optimism: Modi's word of making these historic announcements or just promise of mutation of power in Mehbooba's name in exchange for arranging a huge conquest rally in Srinagar in the worst of hostile ambience?

Dy CM sitting over delegation of powers to MoS since March 6

Modi’s ambitious Leh-Srinagar line delayed; annual plan funds release withheld for months

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Oct 31: Under what consideration does Dy Chief Minister and Minister of Power Dr Nirmal Singh keep even the extremely urgent and important files pending at his office and home, is a matter of investigation. But it has been observed that he has been sitting over the files of topmost urgency for months together with no fear of accountability before the Chief Minister or the Cabinet.

In days of his taking over as Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took a meeting with Minister incharge Power, Power Secretary and other senior bureaucrats and officers on March 6, 2015. He issued instructions that Minister of Power should delegate certain powers, including those of the competence of transferring the non-gazetted Group-D employees. In Mufti’s and Ghulam Nabi Azad’s PDP-Congress coalition and in Omar Abdullah’s NC-Congress alliance, MoS used to enjoy these powers.

General Administration Department conveyed Chief Minister’s instructions vide No: GAD (Adm) 221-2004 Dated 07-03-2015 to Power Development Department. After a detailed bureaucratic exercise, Power Secretary created File No: PDD-Gen/36/215 and submitted it to Dy CM/Power Minister on May 21 with the recommendation that certain powers, elaborated in a detailed list, were required to be delegated to MoS Power Mohammad Ashraf Mir.

Junior Minister Ashraf Mir’s repeated communications and protests failed to yield any results for over five months now. Dy CM remained unmoved over Mir’s D.O. letter Nos PS/HMOS/I&C, PD, H&UDD/235 Dated 13-05-2015. On May 21, Power Secretary Sandeep Nayak referred to Education Minister Naeem Akhtar’s delegation of similar powers to MoS Education Priya Sethi and insisted that same could be delegated to MoS as per CM’s March 6 direction.

In D.O. letter No: PS/HMOS/I&C, PD, H&UD/618 Dated 25-08-2015 Mr Mir protested that PDD had not taken the issue “seriously”. With reference to transfers of Junior Engineers, in which the recommendations of MoS, were completely ignored, Mr Mir recorded: “Administrative Department PDD is issuing transfer orders without proper exercise and ignoring the feedback and proposals…”

In the last 8 months of the Mufti government, Mir and some other junior Ministers have failed to get the powers of the transfer of non-gazetted staff delegated to them.

Dr Singh even delayed an important file related to laying of an ambitious power transmission line from Leh to Srinagar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had specially flown to Ladakh in August 2014 for laying the foundation stone of this proposed power transmission line.

In his note para No: 674 dated October 5, Power Secretary Nayak wrote to Dy CM: “It is pertinent to mention here that many important files are being disposed after months together. It is that which is hampering the smooth functioning of the Department. To quote one example, the important file on Srinagar-Leh Transmission Line was pending in the office of the Minister i/c Power (HDyCM) for almost one and a half months despite clear-cut request/ instructions of the Union Power Minister and HCM to deal with the issue expeditiously”.

“Similarly the annual plan 2015-16 fund release approval file was pending in the office of the Minister i/c Power (HDyCM) for several weeks hampering the time bound and winter areas execution of works. There are plenty of such examples”, Power Secretary pointed out to Dr Singh.

According to the men well versed with the government functioning, delaying the fund release files means nothing but compelling Heads of Departments to approach the concerned Minister’s touts. “Often such files are released after the HoDs or their representatives pay a percentage of the allocation money to the Ministers through their touts”. It was not immediately clear why Dr Singh kept such urgent files pending for months at his office and residence.

END

PDD's TRANSFER INDUSTRY

Dy CM’s family interest fails to pass off as ‘public interest’

PDP’s Ministers refuse to be part of Jammu-based transfer industry; Power Secretary, Law Secretary, MoS Power, Law Minister turn down Nirmal Singh’s transfer list of 274 AEEs

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
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SRINAGAR, Oct 30: Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Power Dr Nirmal Singh’s unprecedented proposal of the transfer of 274 Assistant Executive Engineers (AEEs), out of the total strength of 400 in Power Development Department (PDD), has been botched up not only by the Principal Secretary of Power Sandeep Nayak and Law Secretary Ashraf Mir but also by Law Minister Syed Basharat Bukhari and Minister of State for Power Mohammad Ashraf Mir. Both the Ministers from BJP’s coalition partner, PDP, have refused to be part and parcel of the dubious transfer industry, based in Jammu in this particular case.

Completing a four-month-long dubious exercise, which allegedly had characters spread from Jammu University to electric goods dealers in Gumat Chowk of Jammu, Dr Singh prepared a list of 274 AEEs and directed the Power Secretary Nayak on September 16 to issue their transfer orders with the postings shown against each by the Minister himself. Most of the proposed transfers were premature and in flagrant departure of the Government’s transfer policy.

While as 9 senior AEEs were proposed to be attached, all the 40 AEEs were proposed to be repatriated from Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (PDC) to the PDD. In turn, 64 AEEs from PDD were proposed to be sent on deputation against 40 vacancies in PDC---excess of 24. In a similar order previously, PDD under Dr Singh’s command had posted even a retired engineer while as two engineers had been posted against one vacancy.

Under note para no: 655 on the file, Dy CM forwarded the entire list, with proposed postings, to Power Secretary with the written direction: “The following transfers and posting of i/c Assistant Executive Engineers is hereby ordered. Premature transfers, if any, and, departure from transfer policy, if any, are also approved in public interest”.

During examination of the proposal, PDD pointed out all the lacunae and flagged that PDC could not be burdened with excessive staff and 17 AEEs could not be deputed against only 7 existing vacancies in the Corporation.

Note para: 663 of a deputy secretary reads: “It may also be mentioned that 9 senior AEEs are desired to await further orders in the offices of Chief Engineers. As is evident, they would be without any work, and in a situation where 37 of their juniors are being given functional postings, it would be very demoralizing for our human resource in general and the affected officers in particular if they are practically attached and kept without work, particularly in circumstances when there is nothing to attribute the misfortune that is to befall them, to any deficiency in their working”.

Nayak returned the file to Dy CM with his observations and urged him to “review” the transfer proposal. He recorded that “Business Rules and the Manual of Secretariat Procedure” had to be followed. This obviously evoked Dy CM’s ire. Vide letter No: PS/HDCM/885/2015 dated 29-09-2015, Nayak was asked to explain his conduct and threatened that the matter of his recalcitrance would be complained to Government of India.

On October 5, Dr Singh again directed Power Secretary to immediately issue the transfer order “in the interest of the administration” and “as has been approved by the undersigned at note para 655-656”. On the same day, under Note para: 673, he responded to the Dy CM with the argument that sending a complaint to the Centre and seeking an explanation from him was “beyond the competence of the authority”.

Power Secretary threatened

Power Secretary Nayak wrote: “It is an attempt to browbeat the undersigned into doing things which are in violation of standing law/rules”. He pointed out that on one hand Dr Singh had slapped an explanation on him but, on the other hand, he had on the same date ordered him to appoint directors in the four PDD-controlled companies.

“The Minister i/c Power (HDyCM) is not the competent authority to decide the issue under the Business Rules and to ask the undersigned to issue orders, as the competent authority to decide the issue is Hon’ble Chief Minister”, wrote the senior IAS officer. He added that Dy CM’s letter dated September 29 “is perceived as a threat to the undersigned and the undersigned is obliged to act only in accordance with the Rules of Business and no threat whatsoever, masquerading in whatever form, can force the undersigned to act in any other manner”.

In the concluding Note para: 675, Nayak recorded for Dy CM on October 5: “The mass scale transfer (note para 655-656) has been framed by Minister i/c Power (HDyCM) himself. No proposal was submitted by the administrative department and mass scale transfers in an essential service department like PDD is not and cannot be in the interest of administration as it has the potential to derail the smooth functioning of the department”. He recorded that Dy CM’s transfer proposal is in violation of the existing transfer policy approved by the Cabinet and notified by GAD vide Government Order No: 861-GAD of 2010 dated 28-10-2010.

In note para: 676, Nayak proposed that administrative department “shall submit a duly considered proposal in accordance with the requirements of the Department and by following the extant transfer policy”.

MoS Power Mohammad Ashraf Mir agreed verbatim. On October 7, he wrote on the file: “Agreed with para 676 there shall not be any departure/deviation from existing transfer policy”. He proposed: “Regarding issue of Business Rules and Manual of Secretariat procedure raised by Administrative Secretary, clarfification from Law department be sought before proceeding further”.

On October 12, Law Secretary Ashraf Mir recorded: “We may advise the department to settle the issue in terms of the policy laid down by the Govt”.

Significantly, after Deputy CM’s threat of resignation to Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Nayak was unceremoniously removed and posted in Relief and Rehabilitation Department on October 19.

Most importantly, even after Nayak’s transfer, Law Minister Basharat Bukhari gave the final opinion on October 23 and dismissed Dy CM’s transfer proposal list “a random exercise". He observed : “Para 655 of the departmental file suggests/ indicates in the open lines that, (“Premature transfer, if any, and departure from policy (transfer) if any, are also approved in the public interest”), the department is not itself sure whether there are any premature transfers/ deviation of transfer policy in the said list, so how it can be treated or termed as public interest. Hence seems a random exercise”.

Bukhari added: “Department must apply full mind and follow set procedures already notified by the govt from time to time in such matters. Even if there arises a need to affect premature transfers in the interest of administration, the reasons should be recorded for such urgency/ act by the competent authority”.

With that the chapter stands closed.

END

[Published in today's STATE TIMES ]

LeT’s J&K chief Abu Qasim killed in Kulgam

Massive funeral procession, shutdown, clashes, pro-Azadi slogans, Pak flags in Jamaat-PDP stronghold

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Oct 29: Within a month of his masterstroke on the State’s most important counterinsurgent Sub Inspector Altaf Dar, who was killed by him in a dramatic assault in Bandipora on October 7^th , Lashkar-e-Tayyiba’s Jammu and Kashmir operational chief Abdul Rehman alias Abu Qasim has been killed in a joint operation by Police and security forces in Kulgam area of South Kashmir on Thursday.

Inspector General of Police Kashmir, Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani, told STATE TIMES that Qasim’s elimination had become “a great challenge” for J&K Police after Altaf’s killing. Qasim himself was killed at Khandeypora, not far away from Altaf’s residential village of Zanglipora.

“We had specific information about two militants including Qasim. We laid a cordon at 1700 hours yesterday and tightened it to ensure that no militant escapes. At 0200 hours, Qasim, along with another militant came out of the hideout and attempted to escape while breaking the cordon. He lobbed grenades and fired volleys of AK-47 fire. However, the Police and troops on vantage positions shot him dead in retaliation”, Mr Gillani said.

IGP said that involved in scores of subversive and terrorist strikes on Police, security forces and civilians, Qasim, who was from Punjab Pakistan, had remained elusive in the last five to six years. He had escaped from over a dozen cordon-and-search operations. Kulgam District Police, CRPF 18^th bn and Rashtriya Rifles 9^th bn participated in the operation.

IGP said that J&K Police and National Investigation Agency (NIA) had declared Qasim as the most wanted militant and announced cash reward of Rs 20 lakh on his head. “It was exclusively the Police operation. This is our most important achievement in the last several years”, Gillani asserted.

DIG South Kashmir Nitish Kumar described Qasim as LeT’s most important militant of current times. “He had meticulous guerrilla training and exceptional organisational capabilities. Thus, he was the most dangerous terrorist. He had escaped from dozens of operations and carried out successful militant strikes. Besides, he had recruited dozens of youths as LeT cadres”, DIG said.

Massive funeral

Reports from Kulgam said that hundreds of people converged on Khandeypora village and they forced the Police and security forces to call off the operation. Officials, seeking anonymity, said that one or two holed up militants managed to escape after mingling with the supportive crowds. Police handed over Qasim’s body to the local Auqaf which was subsequently carried in a funeral procession from DPL Kulgam to Bogam village. Residents of Khandeypora insisted that the body be buried in their village but residents of Bogam took the coffin forcibly to their village.

An intelligence arm of J&K Police put the number of the participants in Qasim’s funeral procession as “8,000 t0 9,000”.  A resident, Sabzar Ahmad, insisted that “over 20,000” people attended the militant’s funeral. However, DIG Nitish Kumar claimed that “not more than 2,500” people formed the procession at Bogam. This area of South Kashmir is a stronghold of the separatist Jamaat-e-Islami and the mainstream Peoples Democratic Party.

Independent reports said that the participants in the funeral procession shouted anti-India, pro-Pakistan and pro-Azadi slogans. Some of them carried Pakistani national flags and black mourning flags. The participants clashed with Police and CRPF at several places while carrying the slain militant’s coffin from one village to another.

Qasim’s Namaaz-e-Janazah was conducted at Government Higher Secondary School of Bogam by Hurriyat (Geelani) activist Shabir Ahmad Dar. Without any organisation’s call, shutdown was observed in Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama districts besides parts of Anantnag district.

Sources said that Police in Shopian arrested 67 people of Pulwama and seized five of their vehicles on the allegation that they were enforcing shutdown over Qasim’s death in the encounter.

Woman claims body

Minutes after the funeral prayers, one middle-aged woman, Nasreena, appeared at Bogam and claimed that the slain militant was her brother Yaqoob and not the LeT chief Abu Qasim of Pakistan. She told the gathering that one of her brother’s ears was bigger and another smaller and he had left his home 15 years back to become a militant. She claimed that she had recognised the body as her brother as it had one bigger and another smaller ear.

Even as the dispute on identification continued for two hours, two militants armed with AK-47 rifles pronounced their decision that the body would be buried only in Bogam. They asserted before the gathering with several gunshots in the air that it was none other than their Pakistani commander Abu Qasim. Thereupon, the body was buried in the local “martyrs’ graveyard” in Bogam.

IGP Kashmir said that Abu Qasim was involved in dozens of terrorist attacks and killings including planning of Udhampur fidayeen attack in which two BSF soldiers died and 12 others got injured on August 5, 2015.

In addition to killing SI Altaf Dar, Qasim with other militants had attacked an Army vehicle killing eight soldiers at Hyderpora on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit in August 2013. On his direction, two LeT militants had attacked noted cardiologist and former Director of SKIMS Dr Sheikh Jalal and killed two of his PSOs in Pampore in July 2013. Later critically injured Dr Jalal died at AIIMS in New Delhi.

END

IAS officer was put under pressure to buy a favoured firm’s power without tenders

Hasty exercise to sign PPA before formulation of power purchase policy draft hits a rock

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Oct 28: Efforts of a Rs 700 crore joint venture, comprising a Chennai-based firm and a Jammu-based business group, to sign the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for selling 100 mw of solar power to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir while bypassing the mandatory bidding route have run into rough weather, notwithstanding the unceremonious exit of the Principal Secretary Power Development Department (PDD).

In his note, flagged as ‘MOST URRGENT’, Shakti Pathak, Officer on Special Duty with Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, had made it clear to Mr Nayak that his boss had taken the delay in signing the PPA with the firm “seriously”.

OSD’s note No: PS/HDCM/627/2015 Dated 06-08-2015 reads: “After lapse of more than three months in which the decision was taken, i.e. April 2015, no action seems to have been taken by the Power Development Department and Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister has taken view seriously. As desired by the Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister, Principal Secretary to Government is requested to take immediate necessary steps regarding signing the Power PPA with the developer so that work on 100 mw SPP at Chann Arrorian, Kathua, is executed by the agency”.

After the 1988 batch IAS officer Sandeep Nayak refused to sign the PPA with some influential politician’s favoured firm without determination of the rate through open tenders, he was transferred to the insignificant Relief and Rehabilitation department on October 19.

Dheeraj Gupta, who succeeded Nayak as Commissioner-Secretary PDD, told STATE TIMES that no PPA was signed with the joint venture promoters “Thein Venayak Energy”. Asked about its latest status, Gupta said “the proposal is where it was early this month”. “I was told that the department has taken the view that no such PPA could be signed without the obligation of competitiveness”, he said.

Chief Engineer Commercial & Survey Wing of PDD, Ms Shehnaz Goni, who is a key member of the Government’s Comprehensive Power Purchase Policy draft, revealed that the draft had been completed but it was being fine-tuned with certain additions. “We will be submitting the PPP draft to the Government after opening of Durbar in second week of November in Jammu. It will be adopted if approved by the Cabinet”, she told STATE TIMES.

According to the well placed bureaucratic sources, some of the influential politicians, including Ministers of BJP, were keen to have the PPA signed with the Government without going through the competition route and before the Comprehensive Power Purchase Policy draft would come into force. They disclosed that the vendor demanded the rate Rs 6.08/per unit to be fixed for the term of 10 years. Without waiting for an official draft, he had reportedly obtained a draft from West Bengal and wanted the PDD to sign the same with him without going for bidding.

Rate of Rs 6.08/per unit is in fact the benchmark capital cost fixed by Jammu and Kashmir State Electricity Regularity Commission (SERC) as per the Central Electricity Regulatory Commissions General Levellized Tariff which, for all private power purchases, is subject to competitiveness. Section 57 of SERC mandate ‘Determination of tariff by bidding process’ says: “Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 56, the Commission shall adopt the tariff if such tariff has been determined through TRANSPARENT PROCESS OF BIDDING in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Government.

J&K State’s annual power bill is around Rs 5,000 crore.

The company wanted to sell 100 mw of solar power to the State government from its Rs 700 crore 100 mw solar photovoltaic power plant at Chann Arrorian, Kathua. The company claims to have purchased 5,000 Kanals of land in Kathua and set up the plant after it was “sanctioned” by Department of Science and Technology on April 9, 2013.

A senior official of S&T Department said that sanctioning a private solar power plant as per the guidelines of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of Government of India does not mean fixation of contract for buying the unit’s product. “The State gets involved only when it buys power from such a plant. If the company generates power and sells it to other clients or other governments, what’s our problem? They are free to sell it to anybody. We will buy only when we get it at the lowest price”, he said.

In July this year, Madhya Pradesh government invited bids for buying 300 mw of solar power. One hundreds bidders including Reliance Power, Adani Power, MK Welsun, Sun Edison and NHDC participated in the competition. The contract was allotted to Sky Power South East Asia Holding Ltd Mauritius which offered the country’s lowest rate of Rs 5.05/ per unit.

It was immediately after the PDP-BJP assumed office and Dy CM got the power portfolio that Thein India Energy Chennai’s local promoter Anirudh Chandel started efforts to get the PPA signed. He, according to sources, met among other Dr Singh and Minister incharge S&T Sajjad Gani Lone. PDD’s review meeting was fixed on April 21.

In the meeting which was chaired by CM and attended by Dy CM, Minister of Finance Haseb Drabu, Minister of S&T Sajjad Lone, Minister of Information Technology Imran Ansari and MOS IT Pawan Gupta, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was told that the TIE’s solar power plant in Kathua had got “stuck” as the developer has not been able to sign PPA with the PDD. According to minutes of the meeting, CM desired that “PDD may facilitate signing of the PPA with the developer at the rates issued by SERC so that 100 mw solar power plant comes up without further delay”.

Interestingly, CM’s “desire that PDD may facilitate signing of PPA” was misinterpreted repeatedly by Ministry of Power. Not only the company in its communications to S&T Secretary Satish Nehru on June 30 but also Dy CM’s OSD in his note dated August 6 to Power Secretary sought to project CM’s “desire to facilitate” as the “CM’s Order”.

The company director had submitted a representation to CM. It was forwarded by Deputy Director (P) in CM’s Secretariat Madan Gopal Sharma to Power Secretary with the advice “to kindly take necessary steps for addressing the issues highlighted by the developer so that the first SPP in the State is set up as per schedule”. This communication No: FC/PRS/HCM/05 Dated 31-07-2015 was also misinterpreted by Ministry of Power as “CM’s Order.

Interestingly it was in the middle of the process that TIE Chennai entered into joint venture with Venayak Energy, Jammu. The agreement executed on July 21, 2015 says that TIE would invest 10% of the project expenditure and Venayak 90%. Profit distribution was also fixed in the same ratio. Thereafter one Adil Mustafa Khan, described as Venayak’s “representative” started pursuing the file. It was he who got a PPA draft from West Bengal, signed it on behalf of TIE-Venayak and pressed Power Secretary to sign it.

The most significant decision of the CM’s review meeting on April 21 was direction to constitute a Comprehensive Power Purchase Policy committee that would make a draft and submit it to Government in six weeks.

 

Rather than signing the PPA, Mr Nayak sought the views of CE Commercial & Survey who returned the file with some key recommendations. “The rates fixed by SERC are worked on various parameters and are quite high and do not represent the current market rates either for medium or long term basis unless a transparent bidding mechanism is adopted in the interest of State”.

CE C&S Wing concluded: “ In view of the above state facts, it is neither advisable nor in the interest of government to enter into such power purchase agreement with ‘M/S Then India Energy Pvt Ltd” binding the State for such a long term of 10-12 years with uncertainty of rates”.

On CE’s note, Mr Nayak sought the view of Commissioner Secretary Finance Naveen Choudhary. After thorough examination, Finance Department returned the file with the note that such an agreement could not be made with the vendor with going for bidding.

END