50 engineers face suspension for role in rooftop solar scam

Around 50 more executive engineers of different electricity supply companies (Escoms) are set to be suspended in a week if they don’t cancel the “illegal” agreements they signed for setting up of rooftop solar plants, Energy Minister D K Shivakumar said on Wednesday.

The rooftop solar scheme was misused by some Escom engineers. The engineers had colluded with investors to grant permission even in cases where there were no buildings.

Though the state power regulator had reduced procurement tariff for these units from the earlier Rs 9.56 a unit to the range of Rs 5.20 to Rs 7.08 per unit depending upon their capacity, the engineers had allegedly signed pacts with old dates to get higher tariff.

“There are cases where engineers approved rooftop solar energy harvesting at places without roof tops. This kind of violation in Power Purchase Agreements can’t be accepted.

We have already suspended some engineers and we will suspend around 50 more next week if they don’t cancel the agreements,” said Shivakumar.

The government began cracking the whip on erring officials on July 6, when nine executive engineers were suspended.