Reoortedby Chinmaya Dehury
Bhubaneswar, May 27:

With the ICOMM Tele, a tower maker for companies like Vodafone, Aircel and Power Grid Corporation, expressing interest to participate in the tender process for Rs 2,600 crore Odisha Distribution System Strengthening Project (ODSSP), the state Energy department has asked the Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (OPTCL) to give a second thought to the bidding application of the company, citing its unsatisfactory performance in Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojna (RGGVY) projects in the state.
power lines
"It is learnt that ICOMM is participating in the tender floated for ODSSP. Since the performance of ICOMM is not satisfactory in execution of RGGVY projects, any tender filed by the firm for ODSSP projects may be considered under above mentioned background," said P N Seth, additional energy secretary, in a letter to OPTCL.

The letter said that the performance of the company is not satisfactory in implementation of RGGVY projects in the state. The Hyderabad-based ICOMM Tele has been hired by NTPC to carry on with the RGGVY projects in three districts- Kalahandi, Koraput and Dhenkanal.

“During the review meeting on RGGVY (11th Plan project) held on 16 January this year, it was evident that the performance/ progress of ICOMM in Kalahandi, Koraput and Dhenkanal districts is not at all satisfactory. During the review meeting in the last one year also, even after sufficient instructions for improvement in performance, the said turnkey contractor has failed to improve,” said the letter.

"Besides, the representatives of ICOMM have expressed their inability to perform in many fora citing their bad financial condition," the Energy department official said in the letter.

The ODSSP project envisages setting up of 500 power substations. In the first phase, 178 sub-stations with 33 and 11 KV capacity will be set up. OPTCL, which is the nodal agency to implement the project, had floated a tender in this regard in September last year.

In the second phase, 165 sub-stations will be installed while the balance 150 will be installed in the last phase.

Odisha currently has a total of 588 substations with 193 substations of 33Kv capacity separated by a distance of more than 30 km, resulting in huge transmission losses. Besides, rising consumer base of the state, which has gone up by five times to 5 million within a span of 13 years, has necessitated the need for upgradation of power distribution infrastructure.