Kochi: The Kerala government has decided to keep the Central government-owned Hospital Service Consultancy Corporation (HSCC) Ltd out of the Kochi Cancer Research Centre project and instead grant its Rs 355-crore second phase to INKEL Limited, a private limited company in which the state government has minority shareholding.
The order signed by additional chief secretary (health) Rajeev Sadanandan on January 4, 2017, says that “the INKEL Ltd has been identified as special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the implementation of the project.”
Industry experts say that an SPV is formed as a new entity exclusively for the execution a project and decision to hand over the cancer centre project to INKEL can be seen only as awarding of a contract.
HSCC Ltd has a proven track record in hospital projects and is implementing the Rs 2,035-crore National Cancer Institute project at Jhajjar in Haryana. Interestingly, HSCC was entrusted with the preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) of the project after a big hue and cry was made earlier during the rule of the last UDF government by people’s representatives, including CPM Ernakulam district secretary P. Rajeev, who was an MP then. However, the LDF government has chosen INKEL with no proven expertise in such projects and has different stated objectives, to execute the project.
Inkel has a government equity of 24.84 percent while government companies hold 7.36 per cent stake in it. The company’s website says it was established “with the specific objective of channelising private capital as well as professional expertise into large scale projects viz. industrial business park, roads and bridges, power, transport, trade centres etc.”
The order by the health secretary accords government sanction for the Rs 355 crore project and financing the project with the assistance of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) of the state government. A sum of Rs 232 crore is set apart for construction works while Rs 123 crore is allocated for purchase of medical equipment.
