CAG flags irregularities in projects under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, cost overruns in Dwarka Expressway

The CAG noted that detailed project reports prepared by consultants were not appraised with due diligence.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has found instances of irregularities in the awarding of projects by agencies implementing central government-funded highway projects.

In its report on the 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) and also flagged huge cost overruns in many of the high-cost Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) projects, including the construction of the Dwarka Expressway project and Delhi-Vadodara Expressway.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)'s decision to opt for an elevated carriageway on the Haryana portion of the expressway has pushed up the construction cost to Rs 251 crore per km from the originally approved Rs 18.2 crore per km, the report pointed out.

The NHAI is building the expressway in question under the Bharatmala programme. The CCEA had approved an overall average construction cost of Rs 18.2 crore per km while approving the Bharatmala programme.

The CAG in its report found that the NHAI Board approved the Dwarka Expressway with a "civil cost of Rs 7,287.29 crore at Rs 250.77 crore per km as against civil cost of Rs 18.2 crore per km approved by the CCEA".

The auditor noted that NHAI has awarded these projects to be completed between November 2020 and September 2022, but they are still incomplete.

"These projects had achieved physical progress ranging between 60.50 percent to 99.25 percent as on 31 March 2023," CAG said in its report.

The CAG also pointed out that in the Dwarka Expressway, "for no reason on record", an eight-lane elevated main carriageway and six-lane at-grade road were constructed across a 19 km stretch in Haryana.

The auditor pointed out that a 14-lane national highway could have been built at grade in place of the aforementioned carriageway and road.

The CAG also said there was no justification on record for planning or construction of eight elevated lanes for average daily traffic of 55,432 passenger vehicles.

It also pointed out that only six lanes (at grade lanes) were planned or constructed for average annual daily traffic of 2,32,959 passenger vehicles, besides freight vehicles.

In its report, the CAG also said that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India (MoRTH) did not counter the audit observation that a 14-lane national highway could have been built at grade, and did not reply to the audit observation on passenger traffic.

The project was approved for decongesting NH-48 between Delhi and Gurgaon. The CAG said the Haryana government had handed over a 90-metre right-of-way (RoW) to NHAI free of cost and to build a 14-lane highway at grade, when a 70-75 metre RoW was enough.

“Even the appraisal and approval mechanism decided by CCEA was also not strictly followed,” the CAG said.

The CAG report also found instances of irregularities in the awarding of projects by agencies implementing central government-funded highway projects in the construction of Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana.

Highlighting issues with awarding of projects by implementing agencies, the CAG said instances of irregularities in the 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 NHAI and the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) are the implementing agencies that develop centrally funded road projects.

The CAG also noted that detailed project reports prepared by consultants were not appraised with due diligence by the competent authority before the approval of projects.

Pointing out that there were significant cost overruns, the auditor noted that only 75.62 percent of CCEA-approved length has been awarded while 158.24 percent of approved financial outlay sanctioned by the CCEA has been used 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.

In another report, the CAG found that the NHAI continued to collect user fee in three toll plazas (namely Nathavalasa, Chalageri and Hebbalu in Southern India) during the 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.