Safety of staff is a concern in Assam: Sterlite Technologies

Vedanta group firm Sterlite Technologies today alleged that it is facing safety issues for its employees in Assam and West Bengal, besides incurring losses, while working for the East-North Interconnection project to build two lines to supply power.

"Due to unrest in Assam and some parts of West Bengal, Sterlite is facing difficulties in last leg of project implementation with concerns on safety of employees and contractors, and also monetary loss," a Sterlite Technologies spokesperson told PTI.

The company, which has stopped the project now after completing 70% of the work, had filed a police complain in March 2013 in Assam, he added.

"Recently 11 constables have been given but the problem is persisting," the official said.

When contacted, Assam Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said the government will take action against the culprits if the company has filed a complaint.

"Whenever and wherever we have come to know about any such things, the government has come down heavily. I do not know about this case. Let them file a complain, we will definitely take action," Bordoloi, who is also the state's Industries and Commerce Minister, said.

The Vedanta group firm's allegations come close on the heels of Oil India Ltd disclosing a loss of around Rs 200 crore in 2012-13 due to hostile working environment in Assam like bandhs, threat to staff and obstruction for not meeting local bodies' demands.

Sterlite Technologies Ltd (STL) is building two lines of 400 KV DC between Siliguri (West Bengal) and Bongaigaon (Assam) and Purnia and Biharsharif in Bihar.

It will supply 900 MW of additional power to Assam and reduce dependence on sole existing line between Siliguri and Bongaigaon.

"Our plea to state and district administration is to urgently restore project site to normalcy and resolve pending 'Right of Way' issues so that Siliguri-Bongaigaon transmission lines can be completed," the Sterlite spokesperson said.

When asked if the Vedanta group and any of its arms will come again to work and invest in Assam after facing such problems, the official said: "We are very confident that these issues will get resolved and we will continue to work closely with state and Central governments towards building infrastructure."

Sterlite had fully acquired the special purpose vehicle East North Interconnection Company Ltd (ENICL) from Power Finance Corporation (PFC) through a Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) process.

The cost of this PPP project is Rs 950 crore and was awarded to STL on build-own-operate-maintain (BOOM) basis.

The scheduled completion period for the project was three years from March 2010.

The Purnia-Biharsharif line will get operational in July this year, while the Siliguri-Bongaigaon line is expected to be delayed by more than five months.

These lines are part of GRID and electricity will be brought to Assam from power surplus regions in the country.