India: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has criticised the management of Jammu and Kashmir Cements for allowing a contractor to abandon a contract to upgrade a cement plant without incurring a financial penalty. The subsequent reduction in production between 2010 and 2014 led the plant to loose an estimated US$5.6m, according to a report seen by the Early Times newspaper.
Engineering contactor Promac Engineering Industries was originally awarded a US$10.5m contact to upgrade the plant in 2005. Work started in June 2006 but the contractor left the site in 2010. The original terms of the agreement required Promac to complete the upgrade within 26 months and pay a financial penalty if the plant’s production capacity fell, if any increase in power or fuel consumption occurred or if the contract was delayed. Additionally, a packing plant that was built as part of the contract remained unused until 2015.