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CAG flags irregularities in Bharatmala project tenders, Infra News, ET Infra

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<p>Representative Image</p>
Representative Image

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has found instances of irregularities in award of projects by agencies implementing central government funded highway projects. In its report on implementation of Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana, the auditor has also found deficiencies in the appraisal and approval mechanism proposed to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in many of the high cost Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) projects.

The CAG has named the Delhi-Vadodara Expressway and the Dwarka Expressway which could not be assessed by either CCEA or the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to have the advantage of the scrutiny at that level. “Even the appraisal and approval mechanism decided by CCEA was also not strictly followed,” the CAG said.

Highlighting issues with awarding of projects by implementing agencies, the CAG said that instances of irregularities in award of projects by implementing agencies were observed. This was in clear violation of the prescribed processes of tendering. According to the CAG, the lacunae was in instances of successful bidder not fulfilling tender condition or bidder selected on the basis of falsified documents, award of works without there being approved detailed project reports or based on faulty detailed project report.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) are the implementing agencies that develop central funded road projects.

CAG also noted that detailed project reports prepared by consultants were not appraised with due diligence by the competent authority before approval of projects. “Instances of adoption of different specifications by contractors or concessionaires at the time of execution of projects than what were prescribed by detailed project report consultants, highlighted the fact that specifications of detailed project reports were not found suitable as per site conditions,” the CAG said.

Pointing out that there were significant cost overruns, the auditor noted that only 75.62% of CCEA approved length has been awarded while 158.24% of approved financial outlay was sanctioned up to March 31, 2023.

The Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana was for development up to September 2022, at an investment outlay of Rs 5,35,000 crore.

According to the CAG, significant changes made in the scope of projects and cost estimates as well as richer project specifications adopted have pushed up the sanctioned cost of projects. “This has resulted in sanctioned civil cost being Rs 23.89 crore per kilometre (km) as against the CCEA approved cost of Rs 13.98 crore per km and sanctioned pre-construction cost being Rs 8.28 crore per km as against the CCEA approved cost of ₹ 1.39 crore per km,” the auditor noted.

In another report, the CAG found that NHAI continued to collect user fee in three toll plazas (namely Nathavalasa, Chalageri, Hebbalu in Southern India) during delayed period of construction. This was in violation of rules stating that no user fee shall be levied for the delayed period, leading to higher toll collection from commuters.

  • Published On Aug 11, 2023 at 11:34 AM IST

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