Delay in the provisioning of Availability Based Tariff (ABT) Metres by the West Central Railway resulted in an additional expenditure of Rs 75.10 crore on power purchase, according to a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report. The committee, which tabled its report in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, said the Railway Ministry had issued instructions in March 2015 to all zonal railways to get direct power from generating companies through open access and ensure the provision of ABT metres.

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The Ministry's instructions were aimed at reducing the traction tariff to optimise the unit cost of transportation. "Despite entering into an agreement in March 2016 under open access, power supply commenced only from January 2017 mainly due to a delay in the provisioning of ABT metres. The delay in shifting to open access resulted in an extra expenditure on power purchase amounting to Rs 75.10 crore," the report, which was based on a Comptroller and Auditor General of India report laid in Parliament in 2022, said.

The Committee noted that despite the Ministry's repeated instructions, the West Central Railway Administration did not promptly secure and install the necessary ABT metres. "The ABT metres were finally procured and installed between the period January 10, 2017 and April 20, 2017. Thus, there was a delay of more than a year in the procurement of ABT metres as well as in the preparation of estimates resulting in a huge extra expenditure of Rs 75.10 crore during the period from March 15, 2016, to January 10 2017," the report said. The Committee has recommended that the Ministry should streamline and fast-track procedures for the procurement of all items relevant to the railways' operational network.