Bhubaneswar: Even after an appeal by Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi, Adani-owned Dhamra Port Company Limited (DPCL) has shown its reluctance to fund the Jamjhadi-Basudevpur-Dhamra national highway.
The state government, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and DPCL have mutually agreed to execute the road project with equal sharing. The estimated project cost of the 60-km road is Rs 225 crore of which each partner would contribute `75 crore, sources said. The DPCL has later gone back from its words and said it would provide the fund from its annual revenue share to the state government, which the government has been opposing, sources said.
“If the company provides the fund from its revenue contribution to the state government, the government will not get an extra pie for the road project. As the DPCL will use the road for its commercial purpose, it should fund the project,” a Works department official said Friday. Last month, Padhi had urged the company to provide its share of Rs 75 crore in six instalments over and above its annual revenue share to the state government.
Padhi also requested to deposit the first instalment of `40 crore during this year and the remaining Rs 35 crore in five equal instalments in subsequent years, the official said.
However, no one from DPCL was available to comment on the issue. PNN
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