Special Chief Secretary for Finance Ramakrishna Rao today appeared before the Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose Commission.
He was questioned by the Commission Chairman Justice P C Ghose in relation to the CAG report on the KLIS (Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme) and the affidavit he had submitted to the Commission.
The Commission sought clarification from Rao about the Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation regarding its loans, project designs and budget allocations. It inquired about the sources of the corporation's funding and its income-generating activities, as well as whether the regulations pertaining to the designs were followed.
Rao said that the responsibility for the designs of the Kaleshwaram project rested with the government, and that there were no records from the Core Committee concerning the project's construction. He also said that the corporation had secured loans for the project under a government guarantee and was in the process of repaying these loans, with an interest rate ranging from 9% to 10.5%.
The Commission remarked that the project was executed hastily and the established regulations were not followed. It also presented evidence that the physical policies pertaining to the project had not been submitted to the Assembly and that the business rules had not been followed in the allocation of funds. No records were kept regarding financial matters either, it said. Rao said in response that multiple people were involved with the project.
The Commission also inquired about the goals of the project and its potential for revenue generation. Rao responded that the primary aim of the project was to generate income by selling water to industrial entities.