CAG sore over preferential land allotment to GMR

Central auditor has demanded to know the reason for preferring GMR over the other two companies

The office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) has pulled up the Odisha government for preferential land allotment to GMR Energy at Kamalanga in Dhenkanal district.

The Central auditor wanted to know the reason for preferring GMR over two other contenders- KVK Nilachal Pvt Ltd and a joint venture company of Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) which had applied for the same location.

C P Mohanty, additional secretary (energy) informed that the land was alloted to GMR Energy Ltd since the project was cleared by the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) first considering the company's project preparedness.

However, the Accountant General-AG (Odisha) did not find the explanation tenable and instead asked the energy department to re-examine the matter as no reason for such preferential allotment was noted in the concerned file checked by the audit.

The AG also instructed the audit team to examine once again the noting in the concerned file to authenticate the reply of the department.

GMR Energy had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government in June 2006 for setting up a 1050 Mw coal-based plant. Later, it had proposed to expand capacity to 1400 (4x350) MW.

The company has already commissioned the first 350 Mw unit of its power station and has started supplying power to state owned bulk power purchaser Gridco. The rest three units of equal capacity are scheduled to be commissioned by August 2013.

Government records show GMR Energy has employed 6,634 people in all for its Odisha projects which includes 5,099 locals and 1,535 from outside the state. The company is also setting up a skilled manpower institute. It claimed to have incurred an expenditure of Rs 38.8 crore on CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities.

It has been allocated Rampia and dip side of Rampia coal blocks jointly with five other allocates. The company has achieved financial closure and has also signed power purchase agreement (PPA) with Gridco for providing 25% power to the state grid.