THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: SRIT India Private Ltd which implemented the Safe Kerala project has announced that it will not take up any new projects in Kerala in view of the unnecessary controversy going on in connection with the installation of AI cameras for road safety. “We decided to participate in the bid because it was a world-class project,” SRIT CEO Madhu Nambiar told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
“With the launch of the project, Kerala has become the first state to implement the Central government project without compromising on quality. However, allegations were raised over a non-issue. We have decided enough is enough. Our investors had also asked whether we are still going to participate in a `850 crore project bid in light of all these controversies. So, we decided to wind up the work we had taken up here,” he said.
Madhu said that the company is currently executing projects worth Rs 12,000 crore. “The Safe Kerala project has become fully functional now. It was a BOOT-cum-annuity project. The project value of SRIT in Safe Kerala is Rs 128 crore. The company paid Rs 6 crore as security deposit and Rs 23 crore as GST. The project investment is over Rs 100 crore.
The interest on investment for the implementation and maintenance period is Rs 44 crore. Alhind backed out of the project due to technical reasons. The company which replaced them Light Master also could not raise funds. So the contract was cancelled and it was informed to the Keltron,” he said.