Kalmadi & Co get CAG rap on contracts

NEW DELHI, AUG 12
Already under attack from various quarters, the CWG Organising Committee has come in for criticism from government auditor CAG over appointment of two consultants for broadcast rights and sponsorship agreements.
The Executive Board of the Committee approved M/s Fast Track Sales Ltd as consultant for international broadcasting rights only on the basis of suggestions made by President (Michael Fennel), CEO (Mike Hooper) of the Commonwealth Games Federation and Chairman, OC (Suresh Kalmadi), an inspection report on the accounts of the OC said.
No detailed technical evaluation of bidders was carried out before the appointment of M/s Fast Track Sales Ltd, the report said.
There has been a projected loss of revenue of over Rs 24 crore on account of giving contract to Fast Track Sales Ltd (Rs 5.20 crore on account of increased commission) and due to deficiencies in the services of the consultant (Rs 19 crore).
However, the OC headed by Kalmadi and their international bosses Fennel and Hooper on Thursday stoutly denied any wrongdoing in awarding the contracts.
OC Secretary General Lalit Bhanot said it was a well thought out decision to award the deal to Fast Track as they did not want to give too many contracts to Sports Marketing and Management, Australia, which already had bagged the sponsorship contract.
Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Mike Hooper admitted that it recommended Kalmadi & Co get CAG rap on broadcast
Fast Track for the broadcast rights deal to OC but claimed there was nothing wrong in it.
He said: “It is a matter for the OC, not the CGF, to ensure that selection of consultants chosen by OC for the Delhi Games follows the proper process in accordance with Indian law.”
“Although the CGF supported the appointment of Fast Track, it strongly refutes any inference that it interfered in the selection process,” Hooper said.
He said they never dictated to the Organising Committee whom to pick and a transparent bid process was followed.
The CAG inspection report also alleged that undue favour amounting to Rs 25 crore was shown in the appointment of consultants SMAM and Leisure Sports Management, Kolkata.
“The OC did not follow the procedure laid down in the manual and did not allow sufficient time to the consultants who had responded to the Expression of Interest.”
“This resulted in insufficient competition for selection of consultant for marketing of sponsorship and commercial rights. There was no comparable financial bid available with OC for comparing the bid of SMAM,” the report said.
It also faulted the OC on various grounds like avoidable expenditure of Rs 4.11 crore on renovation of IOA Bhavan, avoidable payment of rent and maintenance charges amounting to Rs 1.44 crore and “arbitrary” engagement of advocates.