Appointments in power sector raise questions

Naveen S Garewal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 11

NGO Global Village Foundation’s Trustee and Chairman Balram Nandwani’s appointment as an Independent Director in the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (UHBVN) raises several questions as he is also a Director at Ranital Hydro Ventures Private Limited.

Two of Nandwani’s co-directors at Ranital — Kulbhushan Mittal and Inderjit Verma — are directors at Smartech Energy Management Services, Dera Hydro Power Private Limited and Mittal Hydro Ventures Private Limited.

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All these ventures have a direct linkage to Mittals Group — that provided 1509.64 MUs (million units) to the two Haryana power utilities during 2015-16 at a cost of Rs 658.71 crore, according to the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) figures.

It is pertinent to mention that the state’s Power Department is headed by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and no appointment can be made without his consent.

Power trader Kulbhushan Mittal, a co-director with Nandwani at Ranital Hydro, is also a Director at Mittal Processors Private Limited, one of the main suppliers to the state’s two power utilities.

Incidentally, both Mittal and Nandwani have a Panipat connection, but more importantly Nandwani, a chartered accountant, is also the auditor of Mittal Processors Private Limited.

Haryana’s former Power Minister Capt Ajay Yadav sees an “apparent clash of interest in this appointment”.

Nandwani, he says, “can directly influence power purchase and has direct control over all accounts and audits. Furthermore, he is not a government employee, so there can be no action against any wrongdoing. Tenders for purchase are known to the directors and this information can be used to benefit power traders and sellers”.

Capt Yadav says the directors hold autonomous positions and can even disregard the MD if they so wish. 

Another co-director of Nandwani at Ranital, Inderjit Verma, is also a Director at Dera Hydro Power Private Limited. Similarly, Tirlok Chand Gupta is also a Director at Dera Hydro and Mittal Clean Energy Private Limited.

Nandwani, when contacted, denied links with any company in the power sector, saying, “I’m a practising chartered accountant with an independent practice.” Later on, he admitted that his CA firm Balram and Associates was the auditor of Mittal Processors Private Limited. “But these are two independent things and there is no clash of interest. My mandate at UHBVN is to bring accountancy reform as the power utility is reeling under heavy losses,” he claimed.

All the hydro companies mentioned above are linked to the Mittals Group and despite having different registration addresses are either subsidiaries or owned by the same group of people.

Congress spokesperson Ran Singh Mann, meanwhile, has also questioned the appointment of Debashish Majumdar as an HERC member with Cabinet rank. “He is the father of Dhruv Majumdar, the CM’s IT Adviser. The BJP has always been critical of the Congress for violating ‘one family, one post’, but it has failed to apply the same principle here,” he said.

HERC is a three-member statutory body, including the chairperson, and is considered to be a watchdog that regulates generation, transmission, distribution, trading and use of electricity, and protecting the interest of consumers while ensuring fair practices. It has the final word on the tariff and other consumer-related disputes. 

The CM’s Office, meanwhile, said too much was being read into the appointment as GVF comprises a group of selfless persons helping the state on various issues. (Concluded)