Corruption In ₹1,000 Cr Smart City Project Will Be Probed: Min, ET Infra

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Finance Minister O P Choudhary has assured the Legislative Assembly that a departmental inquiry will be conducted into the alleged irregularities in the allotment of works worth Rs 1,000 crore under the Smart City Project of Raipur.

This announcement came in response to a question raised by BJP MLA Rajesh Munat during the question hour session on the sixth day of the budget session.

During the session, MLA Rajesh Munat raised concerns about irregularities in the Smart City project, alleging corruption amounting to crores of rupees due to collusion among officials.

MLA Munat, in his remarks regarding the Smart City project, accused officials of awarding contracts worth billions to their associates. He highlighted instances where sub-contracting occurred after the award of the contracts, deviating from the original concept of the Central Smart City scheme.

Munat also criticized the awarding of contracts worth more than a thousand crores without due procedures. In contrast, Housing and Environment minister OP Choudhary said that there are two Smart City Limited entities in Raipur – Naya Raipur and Raipur Smart City Limited.

He said that all tenders were issued online and awarded at the minimum rate. While subcontracting did occur in some tenders of Raipur Smart City, it adhered to the prescribed 25% standard and was done with due permissions.

Choudhary said that New Raipur Smart City Limited falls under the Housing and Environment Department, while Raipur Smart City Limited falls under the Urban Administration Department. He informed the Assembly that ten works worth Rs 310 crore were progressing slowly in Naya Raipur, with two-thirds of the package being canceled. Information about the slow progress of works in Raipur will also be provided to the members.

MLA Munat highlighted that the Smart City project was initiated in 2018, with Rs 209 crore spent from the Smart City fund on improving traffic management in Raipur city and Rs 28 crore on multilevel parking.

However, MLA Munat expressed disappointment over the deviation from the original concept of the Smart City and the slow pace of project completion.

In response to Munat’s concerns, OP Choudhary assured that a departmental inquiry would be conducted to address the issues raised. He also mentioned discussing with the Urban Administration Department regarding the removal of the chaupati developed during the previous government near government science college and NIT Raipur, a concern raised by Munat.