Government saved 12 per cent in construction cost in awarding Dwarka Expressway project, says road ministry sources

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

CAG findings that the cost was exorbitant are misplaced as the auditor did not factor in the actual cost, top sources in the road transport ministry said. According to reports, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had found that the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) decision to go for an elevated carriageway on the Haryana portion of the Dwarka Expressway pushed up the construction cost to Rs 251 crore per kilometre from Rs 18.2 crore per km estimated earlier.

The audit report on the implementation of Phase-I of the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana' highway projects, triggered a political row with the opposition parties alleging corruption in the process of awarding the project. The ministry sources explained that all four packages of Dwarka Expressway were put for tender at an average civil cost of Rs 206.39 crore per kilometre but the contracts were finally awarded at a lower rate of Rs 181.94 crore per km.

The average civil construction cost of the four packages of the expressway was 12 per cent lower than the estimates, they said. The sources also explained that the CAG has simply divided the total cost of construction of Rs 91,000 crore under National Corridor Efficiency Programme with the project's entire length of 5,000 kilometres under development.

They said the CAG has itself noted that the cost of construction of Rs 18.2 per kilometre does not include the cost norms for flyovers, ring roads, etc. They are of the view that the expressway in question has elevated roads, underpasses, tunnels and other components which were not part of the project.