BJP targets Odisha govt opposing privatisation of CESU

Bhubaneswar: The State unit of BJP again lambasted the Odisha government today and demanded cancellation of bidding process for involvement of private company to take over Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU).

Alleging that the State is incurring maximum losses in power transmission and distribution, BJP state secretary Lekhashree Samantasinghar today stated that the Odisha government is mulling to sell off CESU to an inefficient private company India Power Corporation. "The State government is going to sell CESU to a private company with low credibility by tweaking its bidding clause," she said during a presser today.

She also claimed that the efforts of the government to privatise power distribution failed thrice earlier. When US-based AES company took charge, the state exchequer suffered a loss of Rs 400 crore after it flew without paying the amount.

Meanwhile, refuting BJP's allegations, Odisha Energy Minister Sushant Singh said, "The state has become a power surplus and the decision of power distribution will be taken in the interest of the State. There is nothing to comment on such baseless allegations."