Punjab couldn't get central assistance for BRTS project in Amritsar as it failed to meet timelines: CAG report

Chandigarh: Failure to comply with timelines for submission of proposal for procurement of 93 buses for bus rapid transit system (BRTS) in Amritsar led to the denial of central assistance, according to a CAG report.

The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ending March 2022 was tabled in the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday which was the concluding day of the three-day session.

According to the report, the Ministry of Urban Development had issued guidelines in August 2013 for financing buses for the urban transport system under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

The state governments were directed to prepare detailed project reports (DPR) on a priority basis for sanctioning the projects from the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC).

The state governments were required to meet the conditions within two months of sanction for release of the first installment.

Fifty per cent reimbursement of the actual cost of the procurement of the buses for cities having population from one to four million was available under the mission, said the report.

The Punjab government had set up a Punjab Bus Metro Society in 2013 for the purpose of promoting public transport in the urban areas of the state.

Records of the society showed that the DPR for bus rapid transit system (BRTS) Amritsar for procurement of 93 buses was approved on September 27, 2013, but the same was submitted by the society to the government of India in December 2013 after a gap of nearly three months, said the report.

The CSMC approved purchase of 93 buses (50 buses with estimated cost of Rs 22 crore and 43 buses with the rider that funding for this procurement shall be made on surrender of buses by other states) for BRTS.

The purchase of buses was approved in August 2014 by the state government after a lapse of six months from the approval of the DPR.

The CSMC fixed February 10, 2015 as the deadline for submission of purchase order for buses but the order was issued by the society on March 31, 2015 for the purchase of 93 buses.

After the matter of release of additional central assistance was taken up, the Ministry of Urban Development informed that the purchase order was placed after the due date and now the ministry did not have any budget provisions under the mission, hence no funds could be released, as per the report.

The Punjab government decided in October 2016 that the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) would provide funds for the procurement of buses.

Accordingly, 93 buses were procured between December 2016 and December 2018 for Rs 41.45 crore.

"Thus, the society's failure to comply with the timelines for submission of proposals for procurement of buses for BRTS resulted in rejection of the proposal and deprival of the available central assistance of Rs 11 crore," it said.