VIJAYAWADA: In a setback to the State government, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has suspended the APGENCO’s order terminating the Polavaram hydel power project contract awarded to the Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd (NECL), which moved the court challenging the decision. Even as the State government maintained that it would go ahead with the reverse tendering for the irrigation component, it is unclear if a fresh notification for bids would be issued as the one floated on August 17 clubbed both the irrigation and power projects of Polavaram.
Reacting to the court order, Water Resources Minister Anil Kumar in a statement said that the legal battle would go on, suggesting that a review petition would be filed by the State government. Judge Justice DVSS Somayajulu, who had reserved his order on Tuesday after hearing the arguments of the petitioner and the State government, issued an interim order directing the respondents -- APGENCO and energy department -- not to proceed with the reverse tendering for the 960-MW hydel power project.
While issuing the interim order, the judge directed the State government to file its response. The NECL argued that though it had spent Rs 398 crore on the project, the State failed to hand over the work site to it till date.
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The advocate representing the petitioner argued that there were no lapses on part of the contractor and the government could not hold the firm liable for its failure in handing over the worksite. The petitioner urged the court to declare the order as “arbitrary, illegal and perverse” and restrain the government from undertaking any process to entrust the hydel power project to any other party.
State Advocate General Sriram Subramanyam defended the government’s move and contended that re-tendering would bring down the project cost. He also argued that the move would not delay the project execution. However, the court suspended the order issued by the APGENCO and restrained it from handing over the contract to any other firm through reverse tendering.
Following the court’s directive, the State government decided to go ahead with the reverse bidding for the irrigation component. Water Resources Minister P Anil Kumar maintained that the court suspended the order only on the power plant. “So we will go as per our plan,” he told the media. But, it is unclear if there would be a fresh notification inviting tenders as the Water Resources department, on August 17, released a notification for works worth Rs 4,987.55 crore clubbing irrigation and power plant works. “We have sought the energy department’s view on the HC order. Based on the response, we will see if there is a need for fresh notification,” a senior official told TNIE. Even though bidding would begin from Thursday, relevant documents are unavailable on the e-procurement platform.