Congress alleges Rs 20,000 cr scam in procurement of LED bulbs

The Congress today alleged a Rs 20,000 crore nationwide scam in the procurement of LED bulbs for government use by a state-owned company and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into it. Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs of Power Ministry, is making purchases of LED bulbs in violation of Supreme Court and Vigilance Commission guidelines.

He said ever since the NDA government came to power there is no transparency in procurements made by the company that does not manufacture any LED bulbs and alleged that it is making procurements of "substandard" LED bulbs from China and Taiwan in violation of laid norms.

"There should be an independent inquiry and it should be monitored by the Supreme Court, as according to our estimates there is a corruption to the tune of Rs 20,000 crores, the way the quality is compromised," Gohil told



reporters. 

He said he has earlier raised the issue in Gujarat Assembly but the minister there was unable to answer the allegations raised. The Congress leader said he procured through RTI power bills of Nausari municipality which revealed that there was no reduction in them ever since LED bulbs replaced old bulbs. In fact, there was an increase over a period of few months that indicated substandard quality of bulbs procured, he said.

"This is a national issue and we would like an independent probe into it," he said. "I would like Mr Piyush Goyal under whose ministry this company belongs to tweet and say why the guidelines have not been followed and certification not done. Why was importance not given to 'Make in India' and why were bulbs procured from China and Taiwan and why no audit was done on procurements," he said. Another Congress spokesperson Rajeev Gowda said "we will go to the people and we will raise the issue in Parliament also".