Kerala’s proposed power purchase agreement has triggered demands for a judicial inquiry, with Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan and CPM state secretary M V Govindan alleging that the government projected an artificial electricity shortage to justify a costly deal. Their demands followed the state government’s decision to cancel the proposed agreement.
In statements reported by the Times of India, Vijayan said the cancellation vindicated the opposition’s claim that Kerala was not facing the power crisis cited to support the purchase proposal. He alleged that the government had attempted to create a major power procurement arrangement that would place an additional financial burden on consumers.
Vijayan demanded an inquiry headed by a High Court judge and called for all files connected with the agreement to be made public. He alleged that the chief minister had intervened directly to award a high-priced contract to a private intermediary platform that lacked generation capacity and was not a power trader.
According to Vijayan’s allegations, the proposal bypassed objections raised by the Kerala State Electricity Board and was advanced without inviting tenders. He also claimed that the electricity minister was excluded from key decisions and learnt about the agreement and its cancellation through media reports. These claims were presented by Vijayan as reasons for examining the decision-making process and the roles of officials and external intermediaries.
The opposition leader also questioned whether the proposed purchase of electricity from Himachal Pradesh was necessary. He sought answers on who would have benefited from the alleged attempt to create an artificial shortage, why the electricity minister was not involved in important decisions and whether the agreement was pursued through established procedures.
Govindan separately supported the demand for a judicial inquiry. He referred to an October 10 order of the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission, which he said indicated that the state was not facing a power shortage and that electricity would be available from 2026 until April 2027.
Govindan alleged that the chief minister nevertheless led a campaign projecting a power crisis and attempted to enter into an illegal agreement by bypassing procedures and creating concern among consumers. The allegations have not been independently established in the material supplied for this report.
The dispute now centres on the evidence behind the proposed agreement, the regulatory assessment of Kerala’s power availability, the role of the KSEB in the decision-making process and the reasons for the government’s cancellation. The opposition has called for the relevant files to be disclosed and for a judicial inquiry to examine the agreement and the decisions surrounding it.
