Press Release – Koodankulam Is Not Russian?

10 May 2013 3 Comments

by kracktivist in Advocacy, Announcements, Health Care, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Press Release Tags: India, KKNPP, Larsen & Toubro, NPCIL, Nuclear Power Corporation of India, Russia, Russian, Yevgeny Adamov

PMANE

Idinthakarai 627 104

Tirunelveli District

Mobile: 9842154073, 9865683735

Email: koodankulam@yahoo.com

For Immediate Release

May 10, 2013

Koodankulam Is Not Russian?

Indian Nukedom Tries to Free up Russia from Liability, Theft and Project Failure!

In an interview to rediff.com, Mr. R. S. Sundar, the site director of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), has claimed that the KKNPP is not a Russian turnkey project. Here is Mr. Sundar’s categorical answer to Mr. A. Ganesh Nadar’s specific question:

Is this a Russian turn-key project?

“Absolutely not! This is not a Russian turn-key project. This is one misconception many people have. This is not a turn-key project. The technology — that is the design, the drawings, the equipment — has been supplied by the Russian Federation. But the entire construction, starting from the civil construction, the mechanical component, the electrical component, the instrumentation component, erection, has been done by Indian engineers and Indian contractors. BHEL, Larsen & Toubro, the Electronic Corporation of India among others have done all the work. The commissioning has also been done by Indian engineers.”

But on November 20, 1988, Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signed an agreement and it clearly pointed out that the Soviet vendor Atomenergoexport would supply the reactors “constructed on a turnkey basis.” On February 29, 1989, V.S.G. Rao, project director of the Koodankulam Project, said that “the USSR will use Indian contractors and laborers even though the reactors will be supplied on a turnkey basis.” On October 12, 1989, Chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) M. R. Srinivasan said that the signing of the contract for turnkey execution of the project would come only after the design study was completed.

In December 1995, India no longer wanted a turnkey operation, as was originally agreed. Instead, India wished to obtain pressurized water reactor technology that would allow it to build its own plant “like China.” On February 15, 1997, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoriy Karasin affirmed Moscow’s intention to build two 1,000 MW LWRs in India and said that construction was a “bilateral issue.”

A supplementary agreement to the IGA was signed in New Delhi on June 21, 1998, by the Russian Minister for Atomic Energy Yevgeny Adamov and the AEC Chairman and DAE Secretary Dr. R. Chidambaram. Under this agreement, the Russians were to provide the reactor designs and supply the equipment and NPCIL would build the reactors. But “a team of Russian specialists would stay at the site to render technical assistance at all stages of construction, in the installation of reactor equipment and in the commissioning and operation of the reactors until the final takeover by NPCIL’s operators” (emphasis added; Frontline 2004).

In January 1995, a Rossiiskaya Gazeta article quoted Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Viktor Mikhailov as saying that some 1,000 Russian nuclear experts would work on the Koodankulam project. The NPCIL has confirmed officially (in its letter No. NPCIL/VSB/CPIO/2574/KKNPP/2013/737 dated April 29, 2013) now: “As on 31.03.2013 there were around 110 no.s of Russian specialists working in KKNPP. NPCIL has no information regarding their pay scales etc.”

In the light of the above, how does Mr. Sundar question the turnkey nature of the project now? By insisting that the KKNPP is not a Russian turnkey project, and is actually built with components from South Korea, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia and other countries, is the Indian nuclear establishment trying to set Russia free from supplier liability, enormous amount of theft and the abject failure of the KKNPP Unit 1?

If the Russians supplied only the technology and the Indian companies such as BHEL, Larsen & Toubro, Electronic Corporation of India, Hindustan Construction Company, Simplex Concrete Piles (India) etc. did the construction, instrumentation and erection, are they responsible for any accidents and liable in any way? While the Russian and the Indian companies make huge profits and engage in financial improprieties, why should the Indian public bear the cost of supplier and operator liability?

The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) thinks that the Indian nuclear establishment, especially the NPCIL, is bending backwards with hidden and hideous intentions of freeing up the Russians from liability commitments, and rampant corruption and theft in the totally failed Koodankulam project.

The Struggle Committee

PMANE

Sources:

[] R. Adam Moody, “The Indian-Russian Light Water Reactor Deal,” The Nonproliferation Review/Fall 1997.

[] T. S. Subramanian, “Setting standards,” Frontline, 21/8 (April 10, 2004)

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KKNPP: Shoddy Parts and Shabby Leaders (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Five men have been killed in KKNPP in 3 months mostly due to electric shock (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Koodankulam Must Be Stopped: Dr. A Gopalakrishnan #nuclear (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Steam being let out of Kudankulam is due to tests, says NPCIL…. Really ? (kractivist.wordpress.com)

CAG reports increase of 41 per cent in the market borrowing in 2011-12 , Gujarat #Narendramodi

22 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by kracktivist in Advocacy, Announcements, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Minority Rights Tags: CAG, DLVC, Gujarat, Hazira, Larsen & Toubro, Narendra Modi, Reliance Industries, SLVC

Modi’s Pals

CAG report indicts the Gujarat government for showering undue favours to corporate groups leading to massive losses
Himanshu Upadhaya Bengaluru

While Narendra Modi’s apologists will selectively quote from the latest CAG audit report on state finances that revenue earning has registered an upswing, they will compulsively forget that “the fiscal deficit of Rs 11,027 crore in 2011-12 was met out from a net borrowing of Rs 15,083 crore”. The CAG has remarked that “an increase of 41 per cent in the market borrowing in 2011-12 over previous year for financing the deficit would lead to increased interest burden for coming years”.

Reporting its findings from the Performance Review of Management of Government Land, CAG has severely indicted the Gujarat government for extending favours to corporate groups such as Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Adani, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Essar. The auditors asked for the files relating to 1,262 cases of allotment and regularization of encroachment approved by the government during 2006-07 to 2010-11. However, they were given access to only 594 case files.

According to CAG report for the year ended March 31, 2012, Gujarat State Petronet Limited (GSPL) was responsible for deviation from the agreed terms of recovery of transportation charges for transportation of gas from the specified entry point of the company’s pipeline network; this led to passing of undue benefit of Rs 52.27 crore to RIL.

In April, 2012, CAG auditors sought the reasons for non-production; there was deliberate evasion. The audit mentions that a file on a company called ‘GIFT’ was not produced.CAG has highlighted breach of allotment conditions by the Mundra Port and SEZ Ltd stating that only 98.66 lakh sq m out of 5.47 crore sq m were used by the company till December 2011, while land was allotted from 2005 to 2007. CAG reminded the land revenue department that the collector is empowered to either levy penalty or take back the possession of the land. There was no response. Is this because a corporate entity is too close to Modi?

The performance audit highlights the allotment of 8,53,247 sq m land at Hazira to L&T for setting up facilities for manufacture of Super Critical Steam Generators and Forging Shop for a Nuclear Power Plant. While the District Land Valuation Committee (DLVC) had recommended the rate as Rs 1,000/1,050 per sq m, the State Land Valuation Committee (SLVC) had recommended Rs 2,020 per sq m in September 2007.

The cabinet in February 2008 granted a special concession of 30 per cent on the value of land fixed by DLVC and allotted the land at Rs 700/735 per sq m. L&T applied for 12.14 lakh sq m for expansion of the project in August 2009 even as DLVC fixed the rate for land at Rs 2,800/2,500/2,400 per sq m. As per the laid down process, the revenue department should have gone for SLVC fixing the rate, but in consultation with principal secretary, finance department and chief secretary, it proposed to apply the same concessional rate of Rs 700 per sq m and the cabinet allotted 5,79,577 sq m of land.

Not only did this resulted in the loss of revenue worth Rs 128.71 crore to state exchequer, this also set in a ripple effect where corporates that have been sitting on encroached government land in the vicinity at Hazira came forward to get the occupancy regularized at ‘concessional’ rates. By applying similar rates to Essar Steel, the department inflicted a loss of Rs 238.50 crore and extended undue benefit to Essar.

CAG’s audit points out how K Raheja Corporation Pvt Ltd was allotted grazing land for the construction of an IT park in Gandhinagar district and was allotted 3,67,581 sq m of land at the rate of Rs 470 per sq m, which resulted in short recovery of Rs 9.96 crore. CAG has argued that it should been levied Rs 705 per sq m in this case.

While they allotted 30,54,915 sq m of land to Essar Power Gujarat Ltd in the vicinity of a highway in Jamnagar for a power project, they levied Rs 80 per sq m instead of Rs 107 per sq m. The department accepted the mistake in a correspondence in June 2012; it added 30 per cent for highway approach, but sought to gave the corporate group a concession by allowing a 30 per cent deduction by stating that the land was of smaller area!

The audit report on Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) states, “A review of last three years’ audit reports of the CAG shows that in the state, PSUs’ losses of Rs 4,052.37 crore and infructuous investment of Rs 166.77 crore were controllable with better management. There is a need for greater professionalism and accountability in the functioning of PSUs… The above losses pointed out are based on test checked audits of PSUs, and the actual controllable losses could be even higher.”

From the print issue of Hardnews :

APRIL 2013

The helpless expose “vibrant” Gujarat to DMIC Yatra (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Gujarat PSUs gave undue benefits to business houses: CAG (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Narendra Modi’s Rs 9,000 crore gas misadventure (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Gujarat’s burden highest ever as ‘debt-free’ as Narendra Modi plans flight to Delhi (kractivist.wordpress.com)
#India – Five Narendra Modi lies that must be nailed (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Narendra Modi in your Gujarat – Booze is cheaper than water ! (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Gujarat reeling under severe drought – #Narendramodi (kractivist.wordpress.com)

Vedanta Aluminium to acquire L&T’s bauxite mines in Orissa for $330M

13 Jun 2012 4 Comments

by kracktivist in Advocacy, Disability, Health Care, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Minority Rights Tags: India, Jharsuguda, Lanjigarh, Larsen & Toubro, Orissa, Sesa Goa, VAL, Vedanta Resources

Monday, June 11, 2012

English: Vedanta Nagar Lanjigarh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BY Team Vcc

This follows a deal struck in February wherein VAL entered into a tripartite agreement with L&T and Raykal Aluminium Company Private Ltd.

LSE-listed Vedanta Resources’ group firm Vedanta Aluminium (VAL) has struck a deal to acquire Raykal Aluminium Company Private Ltd (Raykal) from diversified conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for Rs 1,811 crore ($330 million) over a period of time in a milestone-based acquisition, the company has disclosed.

In the first leg of the deal, it has acquired 24.5 per cent of Raykal for Rs 200.7 crore ($36 million).

This follows a deal struck in February wherein VAL entered into a tripartite agreement with L&T and Raykal. L&T holds certain prospecting licenses for bauxite mines located at Sijmali and Kurumali of Rayagad and Kalahandi districts of Orissa. By this agreement the entire bauxite excavated from above mines will be available for the use of Raykal and/or Vedanta Aluminium.

Bauxite is a key raw material used for alumina production. The mines would feed the alumina plant of VAL in the state.

Incorporated in 2001, VAL is a producer of metallurgical grade alumina and other aluminium products, which cater to a wide spectrum of industries.

The firm operates 1 mtpa greenfield alumina refinery and an associated 75 MW captive power plant at Lanjigarh in the state of Orissa. It is increasing the capacity of the Lanjigarh refinery to 5 mtpa.

It has also invested in a 0.5 mtpa aluminum smelter and 1,215 MW captive power plant at Jharsuguda, Orissa. As per its website, it is also constructing 1.1 mtpa aluminium smelter expansion project at Jharsuguda.

Jharsuguda is also the site of 2,400 MW independent power plant being set up by group company Sterlite Energy Ltd.

For Vedanta Resources group, this deal comes as yet another big ticket acquisition in the country. The metal & mining firm which has diversified into oil business among other areas has struck multi-billion dollar deal for Cairn India and has also expanded in the mining field by snapping Sesa Goa few years ago.