Ranchi, Dec. 19: Electrification of 5,000 villages by Railway India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) has been put on hold in spite of a good start to the project.
RITES, which successfully electrified Jajpur village under Ratu block of Ranchi within five days of getting the Letter of Intent (LoI), is waiting for the detailed purchase order (DPO) from the Jharkhand State Electricity Board to launch the rural electrification plan.
RITES quoted the lowest rates and bagged the Rs 300-crore contract under which the company had to electrify 5,000 villages within a year of the agreement. Work can begin after the company, a subsidiary of Indian Railways, is given the detailed purchase/work order. A RITES official in Ranchi said the firm was waiting for the DPO. “We will complete the work within a year of the date of the agreement,” he said, refusing to elaborate.
Sources in company said they were ready to start the job, but were unable to proceed in the absence of a work order and an agreement. The company had entered into an agreement with a local firm to expedite the work on the project, but the board is still to release the DPO.
“The company invested Rs 4 lakh in electrifying Jajpur village after getting LoI. If LoI is cancelled because of any reason, the money spent in Jajpur cannot be realised from the board. We cannot start the work unless we get the DPO and the agreement is signed with the JSEB,” sources said.
Of 32,000 villages, only 5,000 were electrified when Jharkhand was created in November 2000. In three years, the government has electrified about 2,000 villages while work is on to electrify 2,000 more by the board, which is expected to be completed by March 2004. By next year, RITES is expected to electrify 5,000 more villages leaving 19,000 unelectrified villages in Jharkhand. The Centre has set a target of electrifying all villages in the country by March 2007.
Energy minister Lalchand Mahto admitted there was a delay in starting the rural electrification project. He said he had directed board officials to expedite the clearance of DPO.
