Larsen & Toubro Limited, the concessionaire for the Hyderabad Metro Rail, unduly benefited to the tune of Rs 227.19 crore as per the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Public Sector Undertakings report that was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
The state government needs to enforce the concession agreement conditions and contractual provisions to realise its dues from the Concessionaire, the report said. The concessionaire was allowed to fix higher fares than those envisaged under the concession agreement, it said. The audit observed that by fixing higher fares, the concessionaire had collected excess fares of Rs 213.77 crore from November 2017 to March 2020.
The delays in the finalisation of metro corridors and the acquisition of land for the Miyapur depot set back the operationalisation of the project and also resulted in cost escalation. Six stations between MGBS station and Falaknuma station on Corridor-II involving 5.12 km remain incomplete. Consequently, the project cost was bound to escalate. The stations, parking and circulation areas were not developed as envisaged. As a result, the Concessionaire was unduly benefited by Rs 227.19 crore, the report said.
As per the observations of the compliance audit of the Hyderabad Metro Rail, the project could achieve only 22% of the expected ridership. The effect of insufficient parking spaces on the ability of the project to operate at full potential in the future cannot be ruled out. The company could not enforce CA provisions relating to urban rejuvenation works and prohibition of sub-leasing of project assets before the COD of the project.
The company did not recover fair rent of the lands leased to the concessionaire and waived administrative charges. The company also did not utilise the Putlibowli commercial complex, constructed at a cost of Rs 11.68 crore, effectively for a period of five years.
The CAG in its recommendations to the state government suggested the preparation of an action plan to complete Corridor II of the project at the earliest. Otherwise, ridership will remain low, it said.
The state government may fix the responsibility of the officials concerned for allowing unauthorised deviations in the construction of station boxes, it said. The state government should take steps to provide sufficient parking and circulation areas to improve ridership and constitute a fare fixation committee at the earliest to review the fare structure, the report said.
