PANJIM: Admittedly, garbage treatment is the need of the hour provided the State makes proper use of the new asset, the plant itself. However, what could be the cost of such machinery and how much is the State spending on its maintenance? A clear picture is yet to emerge.
Even in the Assembly, the Minister for Science and Technology Alina Saldahna said, “The expenditure incurred by GSIDC for construction of the plant till date is nil. The project is implemented through DBFOT (Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer) basis with 100 percent financing by the contractor.”
The only cost she put on record is an expenditure of Rs 3,74,38,747 incurred for constructing the compound wall and the approach road.
Contrary to what the minister is saying, Herald investigations have revealed that the plant will cost the State nearly Rs 400 crore after 10 years, when the government has finished paying SWC that has been given the contract on a Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) basis and the entire Rs 146 crore has been invested by the promoter.
However, this Rs 146 crore will have to be paid by the State as Gross Annual Operations Support Grant in equal instalments of Rs 29.90 crore annually for the next 10 years as the amount has to be paid back to the promoters with interest, which works out to Rs 299 crore in 10 years, more than double the amount invested by the promoter.
Secondly, the State will pay the promoters Rs 1562 per tonne of waste handled at the site, which according to official calculations comes to Rs 9 crore annually, which would total to Rs 90 cr at the end of 10 years. So at the end of 10 years, the State would actually have paid the promoters an amount of Rs 389 cr, not Rs 146 cr. Also, GSIDC has not taken any corporate guarantee from the SWC for ensuring successful application of the technology, viability and successful run, which are mandatory for all projects.
“These are very high costs as there are similar sized projects which cost much less. These projects have composting process with landfill of rejects. They are not based on waste to energy as it is sought to be done in Goa,” says Claude Alvares of Goa Foundation.
