Union power ministry on Tuesday cancelled a ceremony to felicitate the top-ranking distribution companies (discoms), triggering speculation that the ceremony was cancelled after four Gujarati discoms emerged as the best.

Top-ranking discoms were scheduled to be felicitated by Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Icra and Care Ratings had ranked a total of 39 utilities from twenty states for their credit-worthiness.

While four Gujarati discoms emerged as the best, a discom from Maharashtra was the only one from a Congress-ruled state to rank among the top 10.

SB Khyalia, N Srivastava and HS Patel, the managing directors of three of the four discoms from Gujarat, said they were surprised to learn about the cancellation of the scheduled ceremony. The three had reached the national capital to attend the event, for which they had earlier been invited.

They complained that the ministry didn’t inform them about the cancellation of felicitation.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one of the MDs said, “We cannot make any comment on the ministry's decision but the launch of rating report was not in true spirit. Our performance speaks louder than felicitation from Scindia.”

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has long been accusing the Centre for alleged bias against the state, and the cancellation of the felicitation has just increased tensions between the Centre and the state.