State govt firm on CAG audit of Mumbai Metro One

Says it has received in-principle nod from CAG in this regard

The Maharashtra government and its undertaking, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), on Monday said the Comptroller & Auditor General of India has agreed to audit Mumbai Metro One, operated by Reliance Infrastructure arm Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL).

Mumbai Metro One is the rail service on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route. MMOPL is the developer and operator.

An MMRDA official, who did not want to be named, told Business Standard, “Mumbai Metro One started operations in June last year. CAG will examine the timeline for the project completion, specification and project supervision.” The official said according to a government directive, MMRDA would refer the audit issue to CAG for proper investigations.

“Even though the fare fixation committee (FFC) had recommended fare revision in its report in July 2015, a special audit needs to be conducted by an independent agency,” the official said.

However, officials at the state government and MMRDA refused to reveal the timeline for the proposed CAG audit.

Reliance Infrastructure had recently told this paper that it was prepared for a CAG audit. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had repeatedly aired views in favour of a CAG audit.

MMOPL had raised the fare slab to five from the existing four, based on the FFC recommendations made in July. The increase came despite the chief minister saying MMOPL can hike fares after a CAG audit. The company has already made a plea to the government to provide a one-time grant of Rs 1,000 crore and monthly subsidy of Rs 21.75 crore and allow commercial exploitation of real estate along railway stations.

Meanwhile, a section of the ruling BJP has made a fresh appeal to Fadnavis strongly demanding CAG audit of Mumbai Metro One. Mumbai unit BJP secretary Vivekanand Gupta said CAG needs to examine the actual expenditure and operating cost, among others.

The issue will come up for discussion at the three week winter session of the state legislature beginning December 7 at Nagpur.