There is talk that an Andhra official is running the Yadadri Thermal Power Station (YTPS), the second largest thermal plant in the south, and that he is monopolizing the company. Allegations are being heard that the said officer is running a mantra by keeping all the powers under his belt and cutting off the engineers.
- Steps towards privatization before completion of plant
- Scissors to the powers of engineers
- Many are threatened with suspension for setting low expectations
- Approval of higher authority on purchases
- Tenders for 207 crore work.. 255 crore
- Who raised expectations?
- Why Outsource Management Responsibilities to Genco?
- Clouds of suspicion over tenders
Hyderabad, July 29 (Namaste Telangana): There is talk that an Andhra officer is running the Yadadri Thermal Power Station (YTPS), the second largest thermal plant in the south, and that he is monopolizing the company. Allegations are being heard that the said officer is running a mantra by keeping all the powers under his belt and cutting off the engineers. There is a discussion going on that they are rolling the red carpet for the privatization of the plant while taking salary from Genco and doing good for the company. This key official stays at YTPS every Saturday. Staying there on Sunday. There are whispers in the power plant circles that he is interfering in every matter related to the plant, threatening the employees, and has a business style as if he has to deal with any work. The one-man show affair is leading to an uproar at Genco. When ‘Namaste Telangana’ tried to inquire Genco Thermal Director Rajasekhar Reddy about the same, he did not respond.
Scissors to the powers that be
In GENCO, open tenders are invited and finalized at the CE level for works costing Rs.5 lakh to Rs.10 lakh. But, the concerned Andhra officer is now saying that he has taken this whole system under his control. His approval is also mandatory for those worth Rs.15 thousand. Under Proprietary Spare Parts, the necessary spare parts have to be purchased from the company that supplied the equipment to the plant. But, there are allegations that other companies are sticking instead of buying from the proprietors. Engineers say that there is a risk of future problems in the management of the plant.
will be suspended
When the lower level officials prepared a file for the YTPS tenders, the senior Kassumannarata saw it. Apart from questioning why the expectations were set so low, there is also talk of threatening to suspend them. Allegations are heard that the officer in question is trying his best to benefit a company and has overstated the number of O&M staff while inviting tenders. The power workers alleged that the O&M staff was increased to 1,913 when 1,650 personnel were required, and that there was a huge conspiracy behind this. Discussions are going on among Genco engineers that they are threatening the lower level employees to increase the expectations of the tenders.
8 thousand pending works
The construction of YTPS plant is not yet completed. As many as 8 thousand works are pending. Moreover, Performance Guarantee Test (PG Test) was not conducted for this plant. While 2,500 tonnes of coal should be burnt per hour, currently even 800 tonnes cannot be burnt. Going for tenders at this juncture and placing a burden of Rs.255 crores on the company is open to criticism. At this time, Genco took over Unit-1 and Unit-2 on Agamegha from the contract company. Genco is in a hurry to acquire the remaining three units. A question arises as to why coal handling plant and ash handling plant are being outsourced along with taking over an incomplete plant.
Hurry up before it’s over?
Out of the five units, currently only four units have completed ‘Commissioning of Date’ (CVOD), while the electricity generated in Unit-3 is being used under ‘Inform Power’. CVOD of the fifth unit has not been completed yet. If the latest tenders are finalised, Genco will have to pay Rs 255 crore for all the five units. That means you have to pay for unused and incomplete units as well. It is alleged that Genco money is going to be tied up as a loan to private companies.
If you fail..
Genco’s overstaffing is a frequent statement from the mouths of key officials in power companies. A special committee has also been formed for the rationalization of employees and engineers to adjust the ‘man megawatt ratio’ in many meetings as it is high with us. The million dollar question is why tenders were called for privatization of VTPS Coal Handling Plant and Ash Handling Plant without using the services of existing staff and engineers. Originally managed by Genco for a period of time and then outsourced to the private sector in case of failure. But, it is alleged that there is a risk of privatizing the entire plant behind the early tenders. Generally, O&M works are outsourced in power plants. However, engineers and union leaders say that the opposite is happening in YTPS. Engineers claim that even high-skilled jobs have been outsourced, so only DE level engineers belong to Genco and the rest belong to private sector.
Why is the estimate increased?
TG Genco has invited tenders to hand over the management of YTPS Coal Handling Plant and Ash Handling Plant to the private sector. Along with Powermech, two other companies have filed tenders. However, there are allegations that there is a huge fuss behind the outsourcing. In particular, the leaders of the trade unions are accusing that the expectations have been inflated. The proposals of the YTPS employees were completely left aside and the entire proposals were prepared from the power plant. Some time ago it was estimated that it would be Rs.34.5 crores for six months of maintenance. According to this calculation, it will be only Rs. 207 crores for three years. But, currently tenders are invited for Rs.255 crores. Estimates increased by Rs.48 crores from what was originally proposed. Questions are being raised that these expectations have been increased to benefit whom.. to fill whose pockets..
