Retired IPS officer and former intelligence chief of Andhra Pradesh A B Venkateshwara Rao has been creating sleepless nights for the Telugu Desam Party-led coalition government by exposing massive irregularities in power contracts to the extent of around Rs 50,000 crore.
Speaking at an all-party roundtable in Tirupati organized by the Centre for Liberty on Sunday, ABV alleged rampant corruption in recent power-sector contracts — claiming the malpractice runs into tens of thousands of crores, that took place during the YSR Congress party government and is continuing even in the Chandrababu Naidu government.
ABV alleged that tender specifications were reportedly manipulated to qualify only certain firms — Toshiba and Shirdi Sai Electronics.
A single firm received as much as 90% of works in some categories; bills were drawn even when supplies were not delivered, he alleged.
Equipment bills in some instances ballooned into thousands of crores.
He cited an example of a purported Rs 1,400 crore bill for 11 lakh meters, with an alleged draw of Rs 1,000 crore earlier and Rs 200 crore after a government change.
“Distribution projects in rural areas (RDS) were contracted to three private companies, which were linked to larger supplier groups and were paid despite inadequate supplies or inspection,” he said.
He also highlighted how the concentration of connections and equipment in regions such as Tirupati (SPDISL is cited as a major distribution company in the region) made the district a focal point for large-scale contracts and therefore alleged malpractice.
What began as a quiet manipulation of procurement norms under the previous TDP regime in 2017 grew into a systematic monopoly under the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), and is now being legitimized by the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP coalition, he said.
He said Shirdi Sai Electricals Ltd. (SSEL), has managed to corner almost every major transformer contract in the state, aided by custom-designed tender rules, political patronage, and financial muscle.
When the YSRCP came to power in 2019, instead of dismantling these distortions, it doubled down. Eight companies submitted bids, but in the end, only two were deemed eligible, Shirdi Sai Electricals and Toshiba.
Toshiba, a global player, was allocated a token order of just 1,675 transformers. Shirdi Sai was awarded a jaw-dropping 55,623 transformers, more than 97% of the total.
When the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP coalition came to power in mid-2024, there was hope that the old order of favoritism would be dismantled. Instead, the opposite happened, he pointed out.
