The opposition party in Odisha wants the state government to cancel all the agreements signed between the state and different private sector companies for the implementation of the port projects.
The demand comes following the tabling of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in the state assembly. The report finds irregularities in the method of award of these projects.
The report says that the government should have adopted international competitive bidding process to award port projects instead of adopting the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) route to implement the projects.
The government had decided to implement four out of five port projects through the MOU method. The four projects are – Astaranga, Chudamani, Dhamara and Subarnarekha. Gapalpur was the only project for which the international bidding route had been adopted.
That project was also in the eye of a storm as the company which was awarded the project reportedly had no previous port building experience.
According to the report, longer concession periods were allowed than what is prescribed in model concession agreements (MCAs).
The CAG in its report had also pointed out that there were deficiencies in concession agreements signed between the state government and the port developers.
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