Ulterior motive in UDF govt. push for power purchases from private trading platform overriding KSEB objection: Elamaram Kareem

The Electricity Employees’ Federation of India (EEFI) has demanded an independent probe into the UDF government’s alleged push to purchase electricity via a private trading platform against the advice of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and the continuing delay in issuing the work order for Phase II roll-out of smart electricity meters in Keralam.

According to EEFI national president and senior CPI(M) leader Elamaram Kareem, the State government’s move to purchase 500 MW electricity from GNA Energy OTC platform at ₹8.63 per unit would not just entail additional financial burden but would also fail to serve the State’s peak-hour electricity requirement.

Mr. Kareem alleged that the UDF government had disregarded the objections of the KSEB in this regard.

“It is learnt that the Electricity Minister (Sunny Joseph) supported the KSEB stance, but was overruled. The KSEB had calculated that it would entail an additional financial liability of ₹727 crore. It had also informed the government about this. The government’s decision to persist with its plan notwithstanding the KSEB objection points to ulterior motives,” Mr. Kareem said.

Mr. Kareem said that IAS officer M.G. Rajamanickam, who was transferred from the post of chairman and managing director, KSEB, on Monday, was shunted out for not toeing the government line, Mr. Kareem said.

Mr. Kareem also expressed deep concern over the delay in issuing the work order for Phase II roll-out of smart electricity meters, noting that the validity of the bid expires on November 11. “Months ago, the KSEB had cleared the lowest-quoted bid for Phase II implementation covering 50 lakh consumers under CAPEX mode. It is suspected that a move is on to undermine the CAPEX model which enables the people of Keralam to secure cost-effective smart meter services,” Mr. Kareem said.

Both issues have a direct impact on public interest and public funds and warrant an independent and transparent probe to lay bare the facts, the EEFI said.

Published - November 03, 2026 06:10 pm IST