The Telangana government on Sunday decided to buy all electromechanical equipment for its ambitious Mission Bhagiratha, aimed at providing piped drinking water to each of the state's 84 lakh households by 2018, from public-sector BHEL, an official statement said.
The decision to buy motors and piping equipment from Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to review the Rs 40,000 crore project.
According to a statement from the chief minister's office, the decision to procure motors and piping equipment from BHEL was taken due to attitude of some companies who quoted high price in response to the tenders called by the state government.
Chandrasekhar Rao spoke to BHEL Chairman and Managing Director Atul Sobti over phone and said the state needs 50 to 1,000 HP motors.
The chief minister said the government was already giving priority to BHEL in irrigation and electricity projects and similarly it would make the procurement for Mission Bhagiratha from the public sector company.
The state officials will soon hold a meeting with BHEL executives to come to an agreement over the procurement.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, asked ministers and collectors to review the works on the ground and ensure that by Dec 2017 all villages water pipelines from Krishna and Godavari rivers.
He also wanted officials to first provide tap connections to Dalit and tribal families and later to others.
KCR said people in his assembly constituency Gajwel constituency were immensely benefited from Mission Bhagiratha, which was completed in August this year.
The chief minister said there was no dearth of funds for the project. He said money was already mobilized from various institutions and some allocation was also made it the budget.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the ambitious project in August.
KCR has already said that his party (Telangana Rashtra Samithi) will not fight the 2019 polls if this project is not completed.
--IANS
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