Chennithala alleges corruption in Anert solar pump tender

Congress Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday demanded an investigation into the alleged irregularities in the ₹240 crore tender for the installation of solar pumps under the PM Kusum scheme.

Releasing a set of documents related to this, he alleged that the CEO of the Agency for New and Renewable Energy Research and Technology (Anert), who is allowed to issue tender calls for projects up to ₹5 crore, had called for the ₹240 crore tender.

He said that it should be clarified how a tender for such a high amount could be called without the written permission of the government. A private company which had submitted a tender was allowed to make corrections to the document after the tender was opened and later the work order was issued to them. Most of the contracts have been awarded for more than double the benchmark amount set by the Union government for the installation of such pumps. The difference in the contracts for the installation of various solar power projects ranging from 2 kW to 10 kW ranges from ₹1 lakh to ₹3 lakh. This has created an escalation of about ₹100 crore in the total project cost, alleged Mr.Chennithala.

According to him, grading was implemented for the companies to implement the projects without any errors. Contracts were also awarded to companies which did not qualify in this process.