Energy Minister K.J. George on Tuesday categorically denied allegations made by BJP leader C.N. Ashwath Narayan about a ₹15,000-crore scam involving smart meters. The Minister, speaking at a press conference, said that although he wanted to give his reply in the House itself, he could not do so as the House was adjourned due to the commotions.
He said: “If we had vested interests, we could have chosen to replace all the meters at once. Instead, we are doing it minimally only for select consumers (temporary and new permanent connections).” He also said that the tender was called according to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act (KTTP Act).
Addressing the confusion around why the tender was called under KW 4 category of the Act as it does not allow awarding of tenders to joint ventures, he explained: “We have not violated the Act. We called the tender only for the system integrators and they will later sign an MoU with Advanced Metering Infrastructure Service Provider (AMISP) and meter manufacturers,” he said.
He also issued a clarification around the mandate for smart meters. Mr. Narayan had earlier stated that although the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) had mandated smart meters for only temporary connections, the Energy Department was forcing even new permanent connections to install them.
“KERC guidelines have said that prepaid smart meters are compulsory for temporary connections. For permanent connections, it can either be prepaid or postpaid. The Opposition has misunderstood this and is saying that we are violating KERC guidelines, but KERC has made it clear that all new permanent meters should be smart meters,” Mr. George said.
However, Opposition leader V. Sunil Kumar hit back at Mr. George and said that no amount of clarification could hide the fact that there is a scam.
Published – March 26, 2025 09:30 pm IST
