According to sources, R.S.T. Sai, chairman and managing director, NHPC, revealed the information at the 38th annual general meeting of the company in Faridabad on September 26. Sai said the net profit had decreased to Rs 978.79 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 2,348.22 crore in 2012-13 mainly for the borrowing and other administrative costs of the Subansiri and Teesta projects.
Independent directors of the company and senior officials from the power ministry were also present at the AGM.
“Construction at Subansiri Lower project has been interrupted from December 16, 2011, owing to protests by anti-dam activists. However, substantial technical and administrative work is continuing. However, construction is expected to resume shortly since the matter is being pursued at the Indian government level. Yet, in line with the opinion of the expert advisory committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the borrowing cost and administration and other costs have been added to the statement of profit and loss during 2013-14,” Rai said.
A source said the problem lies at a bigger level since there has been no permanent CMD of the company for quite some time. “The top management of the corporation should have camped at the project site for a longer duration to know about the ground situation. There is no point in top officials coming for a day and then going away,” the source said.
Several meetings have been held between the NHPC and Assam government but there has been no resolution of the problem so far.
According to a status report of the Central Electricity Authority, though the commissioning date of the project has been fixed between 2016 and 2018, there are chances of it being further delayed. The project cost has increased to Rs 10,667 crore from Rs 6,285.33 crore.
“The last meeting between the expert group of Assam and experts of the Centre was held on June 2 in Guwahati and detailed deliberations were held on foundation competency, downstream impact during operation stage and feasibility of reducing the dam height. All queries of the expert groups were clarified by central experts and the NHPC and the issue is in advanced stage of resolution,” the authority said in its status report. Similarly, construction at Teesta low dam-IV project in Sikkim is progressing at a slow pace from March 20, 2013, owing to stoppage of work by one of the contractors.
Source: The Telegraph
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