Days before the Bihar Assembly elections, former Union Power Minister and sulking BJP leader RK Singh made shocking revelations about a power scam in the State, favouring industrialist Gautam Adani.
The former Power and Renewable Energy Minister in the Narendra Modi Government during 2014-2024 alleged a fraud has taken place in the electricity department in the Bihar State of Rs 62,000 crores. He added that several officials of the Bihar Government’s Ministry are involved in the act, and sought a probe into the same by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The scam, Singh alleged, is in connection with a thermal power plant in Bihar to a company owned by Adani Group, which he said was allowed to be installed at an inflated price. This inflated deal made people of Bihar to pay extra, he said in an interview to ABP TV Channel, which later deleted the controversial accusation of RK Singh, who is not in good terms with BJP leadership from 2024.
RK Singh said that an agreement was signed between the company and the government for a period of 25 years, on the deal that the government will make the price of electricity as Rs 6.075 per unit. “This is a very big scam. An agreement has been signed with Adani that for 25 years, the government will make electricity Rs 6.075 (per unit). This is the agreement that they have signed. Adani has been given a lot of money to install a power plant at an inflated price,” the former Union Power Minister told ABP News.
“This will reduce the number of people in the state. In total, this is a fraud of Rs 1,40,000 crores,” he added. When asked what kind of investigation he would want in the case, the former BJP minister said, “This is such a big fraud. This is a fraud. They are giving more than Rs 2,500 crores per year. In total, they are giving Rs 6,200 crores in 25 years.”
RK Singh further said that the company will get return of capital, as well as extra money beyond it. “Do you know what is more? The return on capital that they have is only 15%. They will get that. Apart from that, they are giving so much. Who will pay for this? The public will pay. 1 rupee and 41 paise per unit is more. This is a very big fraud. This is a fraud of Rs 6,200 crores. We are saying that there should be a CBI investigation,” he added.
He demanded that the central probe agency CBI must register case and calculate the total worth of the scam, and added that a criminal case should be registered against all the Ministers and officials involved in this. “All of them should go to jail,” he said. Later, ABP TV channel deleted the controversial allegation of RK Singh against Adani.
It must be interesting to note that RK Singh was in the Power Ministry when Adani was accused of bribery by the US Government in supplying renewable energy equipment in India and availing a big subsidy from the Union Government.
RK Singh, a former IAS officer, was Union Home Secretary during the Congress-led UPA regime during 2011-2013 and became controversial in accusing the RSS for grooming terror camps.
But after retirement in 2014, he joined the BJP and became MP from Bihar and was a Union Minister in Narendra Modi’s cabinet from 2014 to 2024. He lost the election in 2024 and was seen sulking over many decisions of BJP in Bihar.
