Jammu and Kashmir administration had spent crores of rupees for installing 128 solar plants at police establishments but is non-functional and still no attention is being paid towards it.
Many senior officers of J&K police have not paid any attention of any observations of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India as they were to take the necessary steps in a specified time.
Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its report tabled in the Parliament early this year were made and it was mentioned that Director General of Police in reply in June 2020 had stated that the non-functional Solar Power Plants (SPPs) could not be repaired as spare parts were impounded by the Taxes Department for non-payment of Work Contract Tax (WCT). He had assured the audit team that all the issues shall be resolved as soon as the government releases the WCT amount or waives it off.
Unfortunately, a clash had broken out between Police and Commercial Tax departments leading to non functional of SSPs. CAG had stressed that payment of WCT should be settled on prior basis and correction of defects in the non-functional SPPs ensured immediately so that the investment made in SPPs is utilized successfully.
CAG report stated that a tender was floated to provide Solar Photovoltaic Power Plants (SSPs) at 562 locations across J&K to ensure uninterrupted power supply in police establishments.
It was mentioned that if State Taxes Department charges J&K Service Tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) then they will not apply to this contract and would be paid extra by Police Department. The delivery, installation and commissioning of SPPs was to be completed within a time period of six months from the date when order is made and when it is over.
Supplier was responsible for warranty of five years for SPPs, 10 years for power output warranty for Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) modules and replacement guarantee of 20 years. Once instalment was over then out of 252 SPPs, 163 of them were found to be not functioning including 128 SPPs for which Rs 9.70 crore were paid.
Accordingly, the department directed in August 2015 the supplier to resolve problems in all 163 SPPs which were non-functional. The supplier informed the department that instead of repairing, new power conditioning units were dispatched to J&K.
The material was detained by the Taxes Department on the basis of non-deposit of WCT. However, audit scrutiny in July 2017 of records of Director General of Police revealed that the matter relating to WCT was not solved even after a lapse of more than five years and 128 SPPs have remained non-functional for which payment of Rs 9.70 crore was made up to January 2015.