Jamshedpur, Aug. 1: Mini-steel plants in Kolhan are allegedly stealing power worth Rs 50 crore with impunity every month, a nexus with government employees helping them cover their tracks neatly enough to dodge crackdowns.

The most common trick that these plants - equipped with electricity-guzzling induction furnaces - use is tampering with the consumer meter, besides faking an accident that burns the check meter, leaving raid team officials in the dark about the quantum of theft.

The grapevine says that the nexus between plant owners and a section of Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam (JBVNL) employees is so strong that special anti-power theft teams from Ranchi have not been able to detect a single case despite umpteen raids in the past three years.

"It is an open secret that power is being stolen every day, but there is no way of proving the same. Lower-rung JBVNL employees such as substation operators are key performers in the nexus. Sometimes senior officials in Ranchi get a cut too," an insider said, not willing to be named.

Last Friday, a special team from Ranchi had raided a mini-steel plant in Dalbhumgarh under Ghatshila subdivision of East Singhbhum following a tip-off, but returned empty-handed.

The team, led by JBVNL superintending engineer Sudhanshu Kumar, drew a blank despite three hours of search because the plant owner had received a tip-off too, sources said.

Nitish Kumar Sinha, executive engineer of JBVNL's Ghatshila division, confirmed that the raid had yielded nothing. "The high-level team came at 1.30am and left around 4am without evidence."

There are around 24 mini-steel plants operational in Adityapur industrial area and Chandil-Chowka in Seraikela-Kharsawan district, and in Chakulia-Dalbhumgarh belt of East Singhbhum. Of these, only one is run by Jusco power while the rest receive supply from JBVNL.

That power theft is rampant can be understood from the billing difference among units. For instance, Krishna Laxmi Enterprise and Naredi International, both mini-steel plants in Adityapur industrial area, pay Rs 90 lakh each towards power bill every month. On the other hand, four more units of same capacity in Adityapur, Manikui, Chandil and Dalbhumgarh pay as little as Rs 18 lakh a month.

"To run an induction furnace, a plant has to take a 33KVA line. The JBVNL provides two meters - one a consumer meter installed inside the factory premises and another outside called the check meter to ensure that the flow of power to the industrial unit is not tampered with. Many plants get the check meters burnt in connivance with JBVNL employees and then, rig the consumer meter freely," the insider said.

Sources said in order to burn the check meter, the power line had to be tripped and the same could not be achieved without the involvement of JBVNL employees who are later handsomely rewarded.

"Plants with induction furnaces are stealing power to the tune of Rs 50 crore a month from JBVNL's Singhbhum electricity supply area alone," a source said.

Sanjay Kumar, principal secretary to the chief minister, conceded that power theft was rampant in the state. "We buy power worth Rs 420 crore every month, but the revenue is as low as Rs 220 crore. The revenue loss of Rs 200 crore a month is primarily due to power theft," he said.

Initially reluctant to speak to this newspaper, general manager of JBVNL's Singhbhum supply area K.K. Verma later admitted that burning of check meters was common. "But, no official of my organisation (JBVNL) is involved. We carry out raids whenever we get a complaint," he ruled out a nexus.

Verma added that they had recently raided two units - Gajanan Ferro Private Limited in Dalbhumgarh and Nanak Ispat in Adityapur - and slapped a penalty of Rs2.3 crore and Rs 1.5 crore, respectively.