Industries to feel current of power rebate recovery
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, FEB 21
Goa government has started the process of issuing notices to various industrial units which had enjoyed power rebate ridden with controversy during the tenure of former Power Minister Mauvin Godinho.
Officials said that recovery to the tune of Rs 16 crore would be made from 100-odd units, which include more than a dozen power-guzzling units.
Sources in the department said the process of issuing notices has already begun. Some of the firms have already received the notices.
The current Power Minister said that money that went to industries after the controversial rebate granted by the then Power Minister Mauvin Godinho will be recovered.
The 25 per cent rebate on power was granted to various units across the state, mostly the ones situated in Cuncolim Industrial Estate, by the then Power Ministry by by-passing the mandatory requirement of cabinet approval.
The Supreme Court in May 2010 had upheld the High Court judgment given in 2001 which ordered that the subsidy notifications were void as they were not issued in accordance with the business rules.
The HC order affected the power rebate claim of the units under the 1996 notifications. The HC verdict was an outcome of a writ petition filed by opposition leader Manohar Parrikar in 1998.
The power rebate issue had turned murky for current Deputy Speaker Mauvin Godinho, who was also castigated by the Supreme Court.
Upholding the high court order, a division bench comprising Justices R V Raveendran and H L Dattu had observed, “Neither did the minister of power think it is proper and appropriate to place the proposals before the council of ministers or the chief minister, nor did the secretary concerned deem it appropriate to do so. The proposals were finalized by the power minister at his level which in our opinion is in violation of the business rules.”
