PANAJI: The Congress party has demanded the immediate scrapping of the smart electricity meter project in Goa, alleging large-scale irregularities in the tender process and claiming the project has turned into what it called an “Rs 890 crore scam.”
A delegation led by GPCC President Amit Patkar met Chief Electrical Engineer of the Goa Electricity Department, Stephen Fernandes, at Vidyut Bhavan today and submitted a memorandum seeking withdrawal of the project, along with a review of rising electricity bills reported by consumers over the past few months.
Patkar said the party had raised concerns over what it described as a steep escalation in project costs. “The estimate moved from Rs 467 crore to Rs 890 crore. There is no clarity on how this jump happened,” he said, adding that the nodal agency REC was cited by officials as the source of the revised estimate.
He also flagged alleged irregularities in the tender process, claiming that one of the bidding companies had earlier faced action from the department. “One of the companies, Genus Power, was blacklisted earlier and later approached the High Court, after which the blacklist was withdrawn,” he said, adding that the party had questioned the fairness of allowing such firms in the bidding process.
Patkar further alleged that consumers were being denied choice in the installation of smart meters, describing the government’s approach as unilateral. “We were told, ‘Who is the consumer? You have to do what we say,’” he said, calling it an example of an “authoritarian attitude.”
The Congress leader said the party believes the smart meter rollout is unnecessary, since consumers have already been made to pay for digital meters installed a few years ago. He claimed the new system would place an additional financial burden on citizens.
“If there are transmission losses, install meters at transformers, not on consumers,” Patkar said, arguing that monitoring should be done at the infrastructure level rather than shifting costs to households.
He also warned of statewide protests if the government does not withdraw the project. “If this is not stopped within a timeframe, we will take to the streets. The responsibility for law and order will lie with the government,” he said.
The delegation alleged that nearly 7.5 lakh consumers in Goa could be affected by the rollout and demanded a full review of the tendering process. The party also accused the government of using the project as a means to recover costs from the public.
Patkar said Congress would scrap and retender the project if voted to power, claiming it would ensure greater transparency and public consent.
