Add Rs 2.5 Cr to CWG bill

OC finedu00a0 for not returning the equipment taken on lease for beautification of Rs 70-crore aerostat

It might have been a showstopper at the Commonwealth Games, but the Rs 70 crore Aerostat has now become an albatross around the neck of the Games Organising Committee (OC).


No show: Suresh Kalmadi in front of the Central Bureau of Investigation
office in New Delhi. He was sacked from the post of CWG Organising
Committee chairman on January 24. File pic

A lot of equipment used to 'beautify' it had been taken on lease from foreign firms for a certain period of time but so far they have not been returned. For this delay, the Organising Committee (OC) has reportedly been imposed with a penalty of around Rs 2.5 crore.

Sources say the reason behind the delay in sending back the Aerostat 'beautifying' apparatus may be the ongoing probe into the CWG scam.

"The investigating agencies like Central Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement Directorate are probing the matter and perhaps they are not allowing the OC to send back the items which otherwise were on lease for a limited time," they added.

There might be more penalties in store for OC over the other hired items also.u00a0 In October 2010, the CVC had asked the OC to retain at least one piece of each item supplied by contractors as part of overlays worth more than Rs 700 crore to facilitate probe into charges that substandard material was rented at exorbitant prices.

The OC had replied that if they complied, they might have to pay Rs 40 crore as charges for the same.
Besides the penalties, the reports that there are no buyers for Aerostat are going to add to the woes of OC, which has already faced flak and its chairman, Suresh Kalmadi, and his deputy, Lalit Bhanot, have been sacked from their posts recently.u00a0

Sources also said the OC had been sent repeated reminders to return the leased equipment for Aerostat, failing which they would be imposed with a penalty of Rs 2.5 crore but nothing was done.

The equipment that was hired included flying rigging and scenic flying items that cost Rs 1.73 crore and Rs 1.25 crore respectively from UK-based firm Stage One.

There was also Aerostat skirt decoration costing around Rs 11.25 lakh which was meant to Indianise the Aerostat. Apart from that a few crores were also spent on the video decoration equipment. When contacted, Jarnail Singh, chief executive officer, CEO of the Organising Committee was unavailable for comments.