Finally the PricewaterhouseCoopers has shown the way to exit from the consultancy on e-mobility project. Transport Minister AK Shashindran confirmed the expulsion of PWC from the project. Earlier, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had raised some serious accusations against the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the project consultant in the E – Mobility project. He pointed out that PricewaterhouseCoopers had been banned by SEBI; he thus maintained the project was the result of a massive corruption.
While reacting to these allegations, CM Pinarayi Vijayan, however, turned down the taint remarks and maintained that it was not unusual that PricewaterhouseCoopers was awarded the consultancy contract, since all due processes had been followed. While commenting on the ban from SEBI, the government explained that SEBI had banned only the auditing arm of the company. Nevertheless, the acknowledgement made by the Space Park officials, that Swapna Suresh – the controversial figure in association with the gold smuggling case – was suggested to the project by PricewaterhouseCoopers, seems to have backfired the decision of the government. Kerala government’s e-mobility project, envisions buying 3,000 electric buses at a cost of Rs 4,500 crore.
