Poor upkeep of projects led to extra spending on power in Kerala: CAG

Additional expense of ₹269.77 crore, generation loss put at 920.71 mu

Plant Availability Factor (PAF), an indication of the efficiency, maintenance and upkeep of equipment, of the Idukki, Sabarigiri, and Kuttiyadi hydroelectric projects was affected by ‘forced outages due to improper execution of maintenance works’ during 2014-2019 resulting in a generation loss of 920.71 million units (mu) of power and additional expenditure of ₹269.77 crore towards purchase of power for the State. This was cited in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on public sector undertakings for the year ending March 31, 2019, laid on the table of the Assembly on Thursday. The three projects did not achieve the norm of 90% PAF during 2014-19. The awarding of renovation works of the Idukki project got delayed by defective technical evaluation, among others. The works on three units of Idukki were to be completed by July 2019.