Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today refuted the charges of favouring a private firm in awarding the Sai-Kothi power Project, saying these were "totally false and frivolous".
Giving the sequence of events in respect to the project, Singh said the Sai-Kothi project was awarded to M/s Venture Energy and Technology Ltd Company in 2002 when the BJP was in power. And the firm was given four extensions between 2009 and 2012 by the BJP government, led by P K Dhumal.
The Congress government gave extension to the firm just once for 10 months, and terminated it in seven-and-half months, the Chief Minister said.
The project was cancelled by the Congress government and there was no truth in the charge that the company was favoured by his government, he said.
Referring to the loans taken by him, Singh said, "A personal loan was taken by me and my wife from Vakamulla Chandrashekhar during July 2011 to November 2011, when the BJP was in power in the state. So there was no question of extending any type of benefit to Chandrashekhar."
The loan was taken in a transparent manner and repayments of loan installments are being made through cheque along with interest and there is nothing to conceal, he maintained.
Referring to shares purchased by his family members in Tarini Infrastructure Ltd., Singh said the shares purchased were fully paid up and were purchased as primary shares in 2009 and approved in 2010-11.
