Parliament Panel Criticizes Railways for Losses Due to Injudicious Procurement and Delayed Meter Installation

A Parliamentary panel has criticized the Railways for suffering a financial loss of ₹25.43 crore due to the injudicious procurement of an additional CNC horizontal boring and milling machine by Patiala Locomotive Works (PLW). The report, based on a detailed examination carried out by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), highlights the failure to review procurement policies, resulting in avoidable expenditures.

Despite a directive from the Railway Board to cease production of mainline ALCO Locomotives, PLW proceeded with the procurement, leading to delays in installation and commissioning. The committee questioned the rationale behind 80% payment to the supplier before shipment and recommended a thorough review of procurement plans in line with policy changes.

Additionally, the PAC report scrutinized delays in the provisioning of Availability Based Tariff (ABT) meters by the West Central Railway, resulting in an extra expenditure of ₹75.10 crore on power purchases. Despite repeated instructions, the delay in installing ABT meters caused significant financial losses, prompting the committee to call for streamlined procurement procedures to avoid such instances in the future.