Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma yesterday demanded an independent inquiry into an alleged scam in the implementation of the Ganol Small Hydro Project of 22.5MW.
This demand came a day after the state cabinet approved a proposal to sanction an additional Rs 30 crore to clear all pending dues relating to the power project in Garo Hills. According to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, the overall project cost will be around Rs 590.88 crore.
According to Dr Sangma, the government has revised the project cost multiple times leading to an unprecedented escalation from Rs 356.43 crore to Rs 590.88 crore. Dr Sangma said the project was conceptualised in 2006-07 and sanction accorded in 2007 but in 2008, after state elections, a new government was formed under the leadership of late Donkupar Roy and the current CM was Power Minister. It was subsequently decided not to go ahead with the project.
However, when the Congress Party came back to power in 2009, the project was revised and the project cost was approved at Rs 356.43 crore and it was meant to be completed in under three years. The project was scheduled to be commissioned in December 2018, which was after Dr Sangma’s government lost power to Conrad Sangma.
“If you go by the series of information shared by the Meghalaya Electricity Generation Corporation Ltd, it was done in a transparent manner and there was no more scope for any further delay nor for any escalation. With that declaration that the project will be commissioned by December 2018, it can be easily interpreted for the understanding of every one of us that means there was no more scope for time overrun or cost overrun,” Dr Sangma said. “But what has happened is that subsequently, the corporation came up with a petition for revision of the cost. Look at the audacity of this government from Rs 356.43 crore, they have approved the revised in 2019 at Rs 507.7 crore and in 2023 again revision figure shows at Rs 535.34 crore and the figure which was reflected in (yesterday’s) media briefing of the CM stands at Rs 590.88 crore.”
He further questioned, “How is it possible for a power project of this size to have the space for repetition and revision of projected cost? The ramication of this cost overrun ultimately has two negative effects – one is drainage of money from a poor exchequer. This is a project which was supported by a grant from the government, meaning public exchequer. Now instead of less than Rs 400 crore you end up spending close to Rs 600 crore,” the former CM said, while adding, “Due to this repeated revision, which is avoidable, the cost of generation per megawatt has come to Rs 26.26 crore. Nowhere in this country has probably spent more than Rs 20 crore per megawatt even in the most difficult areas.”
