THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday accused Chief Minister V D Satheesan of creating confusion over the controversial power purchase deal with the GNA platform and demanded that all related files be made public.
In a statement, Vijayan said the chief minister was trying to evade serious allegations instead of providing clarity on the deal and asked why the government was reluctant to release the complete files and correspondence related to it.
He said the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) had conducted technical and financial assessments of the proposal to purchase power from Himachal Pradesh and submitted its recommendations to the government. The department minister had also favoured the Himachal proposal after official-level discussions, he said.
Vijayan questioned the basis on which the Chief Minister decided to accept GNA Energy's offer despite the objections raised by the KSEB and the views of the department minister.
GNA is a digital over-the-counter platform that brings together potential buyers and sellers of electricity, according to the Leader of the Opposition's statement.
He also asked whether the KSEB had informed the government that the GNA offer would cause substantial financial losses and whether a detailed report by the chief engineer had been prepared.
"If the chief minister has nothing to hide, why are the relevant files and the letter received by the government not being released in full?" he asked.
Vijayan also sought clarity on whether the State Electricity Regulatory Commission had stated that there was no need to purchase power at higher rates during the period from November 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027.
Questioning the chief minister's claim that GNA could supply more power than Himachal Pradesh, he said it was contrary to the KSEB's technical reports. He also asked what evidence the government has to establish that GNA could supply power during peak hours.
He further alleged that GNA was neither a power generator nor a licensed electricity trader, but merely a digital platform, and questioned its authority to sell electricity independently.
The opposition leader challenged the chief minister to produce records if any power purchase agreement had been entered into during the previous LDF government without a tender or regulatory commission approval.
Vijayan also questioned the government's decision to accept a direct offer without inviting tenders, asking what constituted the purported emergency that warranted such a move.
The row has built over a week. Vijayan first alleged that the Chief Minister had improperly intervened in the purchase and that an electricity shortage had been engineered to justify buying at a higher rate. Satheesan rejected those charges on Friday, quoting a note written by former KSEB chairman M G Rajamanickam on October 29, and challenged the Leader of the Opposition to produce the Himachal Pradesh proposal he says the board assessed.
Saturday's statement turns that challenge back on the government: Vijayan wants the correspondence, the chief engineer's report, the regulator's opinion and the Cabinet notes published, and the documents to settle the dispute.
The numbers at the centre of the fight are narrow. Vijayan said the market rate was around Rs 5 per unit, while the proposed purchase from GNA was at Rs 8.63 and Rs 8.90 per unit. He also sought an explanation for the increase in the rate from Rs 8.48 mentioned in the initial file. On the volumes proposed, that gap is what the government will have to defend.
He referred to investigations by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) into the company, and questioned why the government had sought to procure power from it at higher rates without an open tender.
Vijayan alleged that the deal raised suspicions of an attempt to exploit an artificially created power crisis to siphon off public money, and demanded that the government make public all files and Cabinet notes related to the deal to establish the facts.
His remarks came a day after Satheesan had rejected his earlier allegations over the electricity purchase through the GNA platform, asserting that the decision was taken after examining all relevant aspects and keeping the state's interests in mind.
In a statement, the Chief Minister had said Vijayan's allegations, including that he had improperly intervened in the power purchase decision and that an electricity shortage was artificially created to facilitate the deal, were factually incorrect.
Quoting the October 29 note by Rajamanickam, Satheesan said the Himachal Pradesh authorities had not given any assurance to supply electricity at a cheaper rate.
"Where did the Leader of Opposition get the proposal that even KSEB says it has not received? He should be prepared to make it public," the Chief Minister had said.
(With inputs from PTI and media reports)
