Big mistake over electricity

It’s been a week since there were apparent “mistakes” only leading to a  Rs 572 crore electricity waiver for a large corporate house. In their defence, the Bharatiya Janta Party claimed that the electricity bill waived for the steel company for such a whopping amount was just human error and that there was no need to point fingers at anyone. They further added that this issue is getting unnecessary media attention and does not need any further discussion as the glitch has been identified and will be rectified. However, the decision was reversed only when there  was a revelation stating that due diligence was not observed before taking their vital decisions. However, it was also confirmed by the state authorities that no losses  were incurred by the Government while reversing the process.

On August 26, 2015, there was an order issued by the state administration waiving the power charges of JSW Ispat Steel Limited from 2012 to 2019 without any consultation with other ministers in the cabinet. The opposition leaders in the past have been vocal about their reservations on decisions taken by the current State Power Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule. They have further accused him of granting undue favours to the JSW Ispat Steel factories in Raigad district in the past. The decision of a stay order was only made possible once there was an RTI query filed and Principal Secretary, Energy, Mukesh Khullar immediately acted upon it. The finger-pointing continued as the current Power Minister did not take much time in issuing a counter-allegation  stating that Congress-NCP Government in the past has been no less and claims that JSW had been granted a tax waiver of Rs 546 crore. 

The doubt though remains of whether the stay order was implemented only after the guilty were caught after the RTI was implemented or did someone make the decision before. There were no clear answers to this question when the media questioned the authorities in power. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis though for the time being has his hands full at the moment with corruption knocking on his door.