Revanna denies charges, blames Bescom officials

Addressing a press meet here on Friday, Revanna said the purchases were an independent decision taken by the Bescom officials and he, as the then energy minister had no role in it. He said the officials will have to be held responsible for any irregularity.

The State government has ordered a Lokayukta probe into the purchase of conductors and line materials by Bescom.

The probe comes in the wake of recommendations of the Committee on Public Undertakings based on the reports of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08.

The reports point out that the Bescom suffered losses to the tune of Rs 11.40 crore on account of the purchases.

Revanna, however, parried a question pertaining to purchase of line material over and above the requirement, causing a loss of Rs 6.71 crore, also referred to in the CAG report. In turn, he said conductors, line material and poles purchased at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore during the tenure of K S Eshwarappa as energy minister were rusting in stores.

He claimed that Bescom had  fixed deposits of Rs 500 crore during his tenure and the power utility now had reported losses of Rs 2,000 crore.

“I want to know how this happened,” he said, demanding a CBI, Lokayukta or a judicial enquiry.