Southern States - Kerala   

Sabarigiri renovation project: HC moved

By Our Staff Reporter

Kochi Sept. 2. A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court was moved a writ petition seeking a direction to the State Government to conduct an enquiry, through an appropriate independent agency, the circumstances under which the work of renovation and uprating of Sabarigiri Hydro-electric Project was not given to M/s. Voith Hydro, the original equipment manufacturer and take appropriate action against the officers for not entrusting it with the renovation works.

The petition was filed by Kaloor Joseph, Ernakulam. According to the petitioner, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) had commissioned the Sabarigiri Hydro Electric Power Station at Sabarigiri with a capacity of 300 M.W. during 1966.The power project, located in the dense forest area of Muzhiyar, was the second largest power station in the state.

The turbines and generators were supplied by Allis Chalmess, a U.S. company that was subsequently taken over by Voith Hydro, Germany. It was said that the normal life of power generating equipment was 30 years, after which the machines need to be renovated to maintain peak efficiency. In 1989 the Board found faults on either hydro/mechanical/ or electrical sides, indicative of the necessity for capital repairs and improvement works. It was now producing only an average of 121 MW. It was found that the power plants had become somewhat out dated in a period of about 15 years. The Board had prepared a detailed project report for renovation, modernisation and uprating ( RM&U) of Sabarigiri Hydro Electric Project during December 1998. The decision on revamping work of Generator Units at Sabarigiri was postponed.

The Board decided to accept the offer of two foreign companies and started detailed negotiations with them. The price quoted by the two companies for "RM and U'' works was only Rs.163.5 crores. During March, 1997, the original equipment manufacturer of the turbines and generators met the then Board chairman and asked to consider their rightful claim as OEM to undertake the RM and U works and expressed their interest in taking the work. But the Board expressed their inability to consider the said offer since the Board was in an advanced stage of negotiation with the said two foreign companies.

The Board had invited tenders for the work and it was understood that the rate offered was more than Rs. 94 crores whereas the offer made by the OEM is Rs.78 crores.

The original company had been discarded by the Board for extraneous reasons, the petitioner said. The petitioner sought a direction to the Board to entrust the task of Renovation, Modernisation and Uprating (RM&U) work of the Sabarigiri Hydro-electric Project to the Voith Hydro.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Power tariff: violence in Kerala
• Karunakaran tells Govt. to withdraw tariff hike
• Stir against power tariff hike turns violent in Kasaragod
• Oppn. deliberately unleashing violence: Govt.
• Sabarigiri renovation project: HC moved
• HC moved against electricity tariff hike
• Hike as ordered by ADB: Veerendrakumar
• Kadavoor accepts VS' `alternative'
• VS' alternative proposal unviable?
• Hundreds of CPI(M) workers court arrest

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu