Amaravati, March 18 A public interest litigation (PIL) alleging large-scale irregularities in the procurement of distribution transformers – linked to Shirdi Sai Transformers – by Andhra Pradesh DISCOMs has been admitted by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
The petition, filed by former IPS officer A B Venkateswara Rao, alleged a systematic pattern of inflated pricing, suppression of competition, and arbitrary award of contracts in the procurement of 25 KVA distribution transformers for agricultural electricity connections.
The petitioner contends that procurement prices witnessed a steep and unexplained escalation from around Rs 54,278 per unit in 2020-21 to approximately Rs 1.39 lakh per unit, reflecting an increase of nearly 157 per cent without any commensurate change in technical specifications.
The PIL further highlights a significant mismatch with benchmark prices in other states, noting that similar transformers were procured by Telangana DISCOMs at substantially lower rates, ranging between Rs 66,609 and Rs 88,210 per unit.
It is alleged that successive tenders led to the disproportionate allocation of large volumes – running into tens of thousands of transformers – to a single vendor, Shirdi Sai Transformers, at these elevated prices, resulting in a heavy burden on the public exchequer.
According to the petition, the tendering process itself was vitiated by restrictive and tailor-made eligibility conditions that led to the disqualification of otherwise qualified bidders, thereby eliminating fair competition. It also points to questionable procurement practices such as splitting of tender quantities, post-tender changes in eligibility criteria, and repeated extensions of purchase orders at the same inflated rates, cumulatively driving up costs.
The petitioner has further raised concerns over possible downgrading of technical specifications and perfunctory inspection processes, suggesting that even quality compliance may have been compromised.
In view of these allegations, the petitioner has sought a comprehensive investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the procurement ecosystem, including possible collusion between officials and private entities. The petition also calls for production of complete tender records, internal correspondence, and evaluation documents, along with independent technical testing of the supplied transformers by national agencies such as CPRI to ascertain compliance with prescribed standards.