Tainted contract agency Reliable Hitech Infrastructure faces ban

ROURKELA: More trouble seems to be in store for Reliable Hitech Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (RHIPL), a civil, mechanical and electrical contract firm, with dubious credential following a CBI investigation against RHIPL and officials of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) in the alleged tender irregularities.

Sources in the RSP said since RHIPL’s managing director Surendra Dua is named as accused in the CBI’s FIR filed on June 7, 2017, the firm may face ban on business dealing with RSP. In continuation to the investigation of the arrest of former Executive Director (Works) of RSP Bhubaneswar Prasad Verma in January 2017, the CBI had registered another FIR on June 7 claiming Verma and other RSP officials had extended illegal and undue official favour to Dua in bagging the annual rate contract for Maintenance of Oven Machines and CDCP (Coke Dry Cooling Plant) Equipment of Battery-6 of Coke Ovens in 2016.

On June 8, the CBI had raided the residential and official premises of Dua along with retired ED (Materials Management) Parmanand Sahoo, former DGM in-charge (Electricals), Coke Ovens PK Das and ex-DGM (Technical) and Technical Advisor (TA) at the ED (Works) Secretariat Rajiv Ranjan.
Incidentally, documents available with this paper shows that the RHIPL had bagged the contract AT N-0231682000016 dated February 21, 2017 worth `3.47 crore for the period  March 2017 to February 2018 with monthly cost of about `28.90 lakh. The firm had got the work done through its sub-contract firm SK Enterprises at a monthly cost of `11 lakh making it evident that RHIPL had got the tender at highly inflated price.

Despite  RHIPL coming  under CBI scanner from August 2017 when the first raid was conducted on its premises, it has bagged fresh contract for the same job for 2018-19 and 2019-20.General secretary of BMS-affiliated Rourkela Ispat Karkhana Karmachari Sangh (RIKKS), RSP’s recognised trade union, HS Bal said amid reports of corruption in RSP, the honest and hard working workers are getting demoralised reflecting on their productivity. Criminal actions apart, the SAIL should take exemplary actions against unscrupulous officials and business firms and simultaneously strengthen transparency, he added.