The Hindu Business Line : MSEB supply arm suspends 11 officials

The case
About 35,000 capacitors were leased by MSEDCL from Asian Electronics in 1997.
MSEDCL investigations proved that about 10% of the capacitors were not working.

Mumbai , Dec. 17

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) has suspended 11 officials of the level of assistant engineer and junior engineer on Sunday from Latur, Osmanabad and Kolhapur Circles over irregularities in leasing out capacitors.

Eight more officials are under investigation and there could be more suspensions, said Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Managing Director, MSEDCL. Following the suspension, around 200 engineers went on strike in 10 districts.

The strike has not yet affected power distribution in the State, but officials feel that the situation may worsen if they continue to stop work. MSEDCL is the distribution arm of the now unbundled Maharashtra State Electricity Board.

The case involves 35,000 capacitors installed in 14 districts.

These instruments were leased by MSEDCL from Asian Electronics Ltd in 1997.

On receiving complaints that the capacitors were not working, MSEDCL's Vigilance Department carried out random investigations, which proved that about 10 per cent of the capacitors were not working.

Mr A.D. Palamwar, Director, Operations, MSEDCL, said: "We suspect about 30-40 per cent of the instruments are not working."

The matter came to light only in 2004, when a Member of Legislative Assembly, Mr Dinkar Rao Mane, complained that the capacitors were not working.

Inspections were carried out in Latur in 2004-05 and in Aurangabad between January and June 2006, Dr Pandey said.

"We found that the capacitors were not working to the full capacity and there was too much failure.

"But we were paying Rs 800 per capacitor per month for the past 10 years to Asian Electronics," he said.

The total contract was worth Rs 325 crore out of which Rs 207 crore has been paid to Asian Electronics till June 2006.

According to Dr Pandey, MSEDCL would also try to recover the money by approaching the Court, if necessary, as Asian Electronics had submitted bills even though the capacitors were not working.

"We are investigating if more senior level officers are involved and why our internal mechanism did not discover the irregularities earlier," he added.

MSEDCL has also appealed to its employees associations not to agitate against the suspensions of the guilty officials, Dr Pandey said.

The associations are scheduled to meet the Power Minister on Monday.

Meanwhile, MSEDCL is also considering roping in a third party like IIT Powai to test the capacitors, Mr Palamwar said.

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