Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Saturday alleged irregularities in the Bhagalpur power plant raised several questions regarding the Bhagalpur power plant project in Bihar, alleging irregularities in its allocation and pricing.
Addressing a news conference, Kanhaiya, the head of the party’s students’ wing NSUI said, “ This vote-thief government is a land thief too. For days there were talks of a survey in Bihar…Their eyes are set on Bihar’s land. Their purpose is snatch lands from the people of Bihar and hand it over to their friends..Why was land given to Adani for this project at the rate of 1 rupee per acre?
The budget that Adani had allocated for this project was the same as the budget allocated by the government, so why was this project handed over to Adani?" Kanhaiya asked.
The Congress leader also said the power plant in Bhagalpur was initiated during the UPA government.
The Congress, contesting the polls in an alliance with the RJD, announced on Saturday a guarantee of three to five decimal land for the landless families in Bihar, the ownership of which will be given to the women.
Kanhaiya alleged that the project was later handed over to the Adani Group under questionable terms.
Kanhaiya’s claims come as the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government and Adani Power have begun implementing a 2,400 MW ultra-supercritical thermal power plant at Pirpainti, Bhagalpur district, after Adani secured a Letter of Award (LoA) and power supply agreement last month.
Kanhaiya claimed that the project was expected to generate massive profits for the company.
"This project is expected to generate a total profit of one lakh crore rupees, which will now go into the coffers of Modi ji’s friend instead of the people of Bihar," he alleged.
Kanhaiya claimed that the project was initially meant to be a joint venture between the state and central governments.
"At that time, the state and central governments were supposed to jointly start this project, but the Modi government withdrew its support from this project," he said.
The Adani Group, in a statement, said it has signed a 25-year Power Supply Agreement (PSA) with the Bihar State Power Generation Company Ltd. (BSPGCL) to supply electricity from its upcoming thermal power project at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur district.
The agreement follows a Letter of Award issued by BSPGCL in August to Adani Power on behalf of the North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd. (NBPDCL) and the South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd. (SBPDCL).
The Congress had earlier linked the awarding of the contract to the upcoming elections in the northern state.
“When elections were held in Maharashtra, the power plant project and Dharavi were given to Gautam Adani just before that. Similarly, in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, projects were given to Gautam Adani before the elections. This is a very long list, and whenever the BJP feels that we will lose the elections, gifts are given to Adani beforehand,” Congress leader Pawan Khera had alleged.
Adani Power secured the project after emerging as the lowest bidder with a tariff offer of Rs 6.075 per kilowatt-hour.
Kanhaiya also questioned the power rates agreed upon for the project. "Adani is taking contracts in other states at a fixed rate of 3 rupees or 3.5 rupees per unit, but in Bihar, they have been awarded this contract at more than 6 rupees per unit," Kanhaiya said, adding, "This also raises the question: why was this project handed over to Adani at such arbitrary rates?"
The company said it plans to invest around USD 3 billion to develop the 2,400 MW power plant (three units of 800 MW each) along with associated infrastructure under the Design, Build, Finance, Own, and Operate (DBFOO) model.
The project is expected to be commissioned within 60 months.
Coal linkage for the plant has been secured under the Government of India’s SHAKTI policy, which ensures fuel supply to power producers through transparent allocation.
According to the company, the project is expected to create 10,000–12,000 direct and indirect jobs during the construction phase and around 3,000 permanent jobs once operational.
Adani Power, a part of billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate, is India’s largest private-sector thermal power producer with an installed capacity of 18,110 MW.