Shweta Karnik 
 
Mumbai: Reliance Energy Limited (REL) has finally come out of its shell and strongly reacted to the allegations by their counterpart BEST general manager Uttam Khobragade regarding CBI inquiry into REL's Rs11,000-crore public issue and cancellation of former's licence to supply power to the suburbs in the city.

Time and again Khobragade has been spewing venom on REL as "incompetent to serve the power demands of the suburban consumers".

A day after the Supreme Court stayed Appellate's decision of cancelling power purchase agreement between BEST and Tata Power Company, Khobragade said, "REL is the most incompetent power supplier. Despite raising crores of rupees from the market through various public issues, REL has not been able to add even a single additional MW of energy. We have demanded that their licence be revoked for not being able to supply cheap power to its consumers," said Khobragade.

He added, "Without exploring for other power sources REL is demanding reduction of our share for their consumers by calling for equitable distribution. It is ridiculous as they are only trying to prove how incompetent they are," Khobragade said.

Since the past few months BEST and REL have been involved in an ugly spat leaving the consumers confused on who will have to bear the brunt of expensive power.

BEST is sole distributor of power to the island city, as REL is for suburban consumers. "The public issue was raised by Reliance Power by adhering to all statutory norms of Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India). With this amount, we have got the contract for two ultra mega power projects of 4,000MW at Sasan and Krishnapatnam (both outside the state) besides another 4,000MW at Shahapur in Maharashtra.

The allegation is nothing but a fiction of his (Khobragade) imagination and indicates his political interests," said an REL official, on condition of anonymity.

And to procure distribution licence in the suburbs, BEST is willing to spend Rs10 lakh filing a petition with Merc demanding cancellation of REL's licence.

Source : DNAIndia