Haryana recovers Rs 378 crore liquidated damages from Reliance Energy

CHANDIGARH: Haryana has recovered liquidated damages of Rs 377.54 crore from Reliance Energy Ltd for delayed completion of the Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Plant at Khedar in Hisar district.

Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd (HPGCL) has fully recovered liquidated damages slapped on the Reliance Energy, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said in the assembly on Friday while replying to a question by leader of opposition Abhay Singh Chautala.

He also said the contractor paid for the cost of repair of machines from time to time prior to final taking over of the plant.

The question was raised after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its latest report on public sector undertakings for 2014-15 said that an undue favour of Rs 229 crore was made to Reliance Energy in the construction of Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Power Plant (DCRTPP) at Yamunanagar.

The auditor in its report noted that HPGCL awarded the contract for construction of two units of 300 MW each to REL in March 2004 at firm price of Rs 2,097 crore, which included supply of machinery and equipment and civil works and erection, testing and commissioning on turnkey basis.

Under the terms of the contract, the final takeover (FTO) was to be done on completion of all outstanding works. The audit observed there was non-deduction of the cost of incomplete works and the release of payment of Rs 73.54 crore on FTO was an undue favour to REL. The step compromised the financial interests of the HPGCL to the tune of Rs 229.32 crore, it said.

Similar disruptions took place in Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Plant, Hisar, due to incomplete works on the part of Reliance Energy, the auditor’s report had said. This led to shutdowns of 8,305 hours and generation loss of 207.63 MUs, it had said.