Karnataka Energy Minister dismisses allegation against meter supplying company

BJP MLA CN Ashwath Narayan had alleged that a black listed company supplies electricity meters in the state.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Energy Minister K J George on Wednesday dismissed the allegation made by a BJP MLA that a black listed company supplies electricity meters in the state.

The BJP MLA "CN Ashwath Narayan has alleged that a blacklisted company has been given contract by the Karnataka government to supply smart electricity meters. That is totally wrong. That company is not blacklisted," George said.

He said the UP government had barred the company for two years but the company was not blacklisted.

"When the UP government barred them, it was their duty to investigate and penalise them. When UP barred them, 16 other states gave contract to the firm," the Minister said.

Narayan had alleged that there was a "misappropriation" of approximately Rs 15,568 crore in the smart meter tender process of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) and other Electricity Supply Companies (ESCOMS).

According to officials, a smart meter is an electronic device that records data such as electricity consumption, voltage levels, load, and various other technical parameters. This information is periodically transmitted to the server.

Accusing the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government of "favouritism and irregularities" in the tender process, the MLA claimed that the scale of this misappropriation is even larger and insisted that ESCOMs should adhere to the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) rules.