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Jammu and Kashmir Governor-led administration Thursday terminated the contracts of the construction of 48 megawatt (MW) Lower Kalnai hydro-electric power (HEP) project in Doda district due to poor progress of work, an official spokesman said.
"The State Administrative Council (SAC) which met here under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik accorded sanction to the termination of the EPC (Engineering Procurement Construction) and PMC (Project Management Consultancy) contracts for the 48 MW Lower Kalnai HEP, updation of the DPR (detailed project report) and re-tendering of the balance works of the Project under EPC mode," the spokesman noted.
The project was awarded on EPC basis in September 2013 to Coastal Projects Pro Limited and was scheduled to be completed in September, 2017.
He said due to poor progress work and listing of coastal projects in the insolvency list of the RBI, the termination of the contract and encashment of performance bank guarantees (PBGs) was recommended.
The PMC contract of the project was awarded to ICCS-Rodic Consultants Consortium which was to be completed within 48 months, he said.
In view of poor progress of the main EPC contract, the PMC was asked to minimize its manpower deployment. Subsequently, the PMC demobilized its staff, handed over the records and formally closed services in August 2018, the spokesman added.
He said the SAC accorded sanction to the termination of EPC contract with Coastal Projects Limited and termination of PMC contract with ICCS-Rodic Consultants Consortium, as per the provisions of the contract agreement.
The SAC also approved revision of the DPR to exclude the work already executed and to include only the balance works, updation of the DPR to the present price level and re-tendering the balance works of the project under EPC mode, the spokesman said.
The SAC authorized the Commissioner/Secretary, power development department / Managing Director, Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) to take the required action in this regard.
In another decision, the spokesman said, the SAC accorded sanction to the annulment of the bid process of 93 MW New Ganderbal HEP and initiation of the procurement process for the project afresh by JKSPDC.
The project was conceived as a run-of-the river scheme on Sindh Nallah in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district.
All the requisite clearances for the project have been obtained and compliances for clearance of the project by Indus Commission (Government of India) made, the spokesman said.
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has accorded Techno Economic Clearance (TEC) to the project at an estimated cost of Rs 965.87 crore.
The appraisal was valid for a period of three years. The CEA has been approached for revalidation of the appraisal, the spokesman said.
Earlier, a two stage bidding process was adopted for the selection of the EPC contractor for construction of the project in which HCC emerged as the successful bidder with a negotiated cost of Rs 819.18 crore.
However, for various reasons, HCC failed to implement the project, the spokesman said.
He said as the letter of intent to HCC was issued in pursuant to a cabinet decision, the proposal was placed before the SAC, which accorded approval to annulment of the bid process and initiation of procurement process of the 93 MW New Ganderbal Hydro Electric project afresh by JKSPDC in EPC mode.
The decision was taken in view of the resolution passed by the Board of Directors of JKSPDC in a recent meeting.
