Mukul demands independent inquiry into purchase of overpriced smart meters by Meghalaya govt

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaAugust 18, 2022

Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma on Thursday sought the intervention of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for instituting an independent inquiry by a central investigation agency into the purchase of overpriced smart meters by the Meghalaya government.

In his petition to Modi, Sangma said, “Sir, you have always held that there is zero tolerance for corruption in New India. Your commitment to ensuring a corruption-free India gives me great expectations and hope that the Government of India will order an immediate inquiry into this matter through an appropriate Central investigation agency.”

“This is an issue that has major repercussions on the people of Meghalaya and the state’s exchequer, and therefore, your kind and urgent intervention is greatly desired in order for justice to be done,” he stated.

Sangma, who is also former chief minister, alleged that there are massive financial irregularities in the smart meter contract awarded by the Government of Meghalaya.

The state government had invited the bid for supply of 1,80,000 smart meters through tender. Based on the bid received, the Letter of Award was then issued to 2 bidders namely Satnam Global Infraprojects Ltd and JPM Industries and Inhemeter Co Ltd as joint venture partners.

As per the contract, the break-up includes ex-works price components of Rs 171,48,42,495 (which comes to about Rs 9,527 per meter) and GST component of Rs 30.86,71,649 (about Rs 1,715 per meter). With this, the total cost incurred by the Government of Meghalaya for one smart meter unit is Rs 11,242.

He said Satnam Global Infraprojects Ltd installed Liberty 150 Smart Meter smart meter manufactured by Secure Meters Ltd headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana. Whereas, the Joint venture of JPM Industries and Inhemeter Co. Itd installed Inhemeter DDZ1513.

He said now, on verifying data from the open market, it turns out that the online retail price of single Secure Meters Ltd. Liberty 150 smart meter is Rs. 5500. Similarly, the online retail market price of single Inhemeter DDZ1513 is Rs. 1,700.

“Therefore, there is a massive price discrepancy of Rs 137.55 crores between the price paid by the Government of Meghalaya for these smart meters and their price on the open market,” Sangma added.

Stating that Inhemeter Co Ltd being a Chinese company takes the financial viability away from local companies, the leader of opposition said that awarding the contract to a Chinese company does not align with the core idea of Make in India.

“It also creates a security threat as these smart meters have SIM cards installed in them and are connected to the wider mobile internet network which could allow malicious hackers and India’s adversaries to gain control of the entire power system in the state,” he further warned.