The audit division of the Union Finance Ministry sought details of the Polavaram Project cost escalation in a “single table” and gave the Andhra Pradesh Water Resources Department (APWR), the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) and Central Water Commission one week to provide it.
A meeting was held in the Finance Ministry in New Delhi on the Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of the Polavaram project on Tuesday.
The Finance Ministry internal audit head Amardeep Singh presided over the meeting attended by PPA Chairman R. K. Jain, APWR Engineer-in-Chief M. Venkateswara Rao and experts of the CWC.
This is a follow-up to the recent announcement in Parliament that the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti (formerly Ministry of Water Resources), River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation had accepted the RCE of ₹55,548.87 crore as per the price level of 2017-18 for the Polavaram project.
Earlier, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) approved the RCE after a few crucial meetings.
Latest price level
The APWR, PPA and CWC have now been asked to give details of the RCE according to the earlier price level and why the cost escalated.
According to the latest RCE, the cost of Right Main Canal as per the 2017-18 price level is ₹ 4,318.97 crore.
Similarly, the RCE of Left Main Canal according to the latest price level is ₹4,202.69 crore, head works ₹ 9,734.34 crore, power house ₹ 4,124.64 and LA&RR ₹33,168.27 crore.
Mr. Singh asked several questions on the steep increase in the cost of land acquisition, R&R and sought details.