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HC reserves order on Apollo power project

The Delhi high court on Monday reserved its judgement on a public interest petition seeking scrapping of the controversial United States-aided Apollo power project in the capital.

A division bench consisting of Justice Arun Kumar and Justice Dalveer Bhandari reserved the judgement, after hearing in brief the arguments of petitioner Dr B L Wadehra and senior counsel Mukul Mudgil for the Apollo group.

Dr Wadehra, an environmental and legal activist, had in the petition urged the court to scrap the granting of the power project to Apollo on the grounds that there was no competitive bidding.

He submitted before the bench that the letter of intent signed between the Union government and Apollo hospitals group was totally vague and was granted even without inviting global tender. The letter of intent has not specified what technology would be used or how much the project would cost, he added.

Apollo had simply given a rough estimate of Rs 15 billion, he said, and added that according to the government's policy, no government can give power projects without competitive bidding.

Mudgil stated that the grant to the project was "legal" as the joint secretary, ministry of power, had signed the letter of intent.

The court wanted to know how much money the central and Delhi governments would contribute towards the project. The position of the land being given by the government should also be made clear, the bench directed the central and state government.

Wadehra had alleged that initially Apollo wanted 10 acres of land for the project which they later hiked to 100 acres, promising to generate an additional 100 mw power. The Apollo power project was to generate 200 mw of power and the letter of intent was signed keeping this in view, he added.

The state government simultaneously promised them the 100 acres of land in Narela.

An affidavit filed by Wadehra had stated that the Delhi government had committed to buy power from Apollo power project without deciding on the price.

EARLIER REPORT:
Delhi HC allows Apollo project freedom till further notice

UNI