VIJAYAWADA: While Amaravati works are poised to start again after clearing all legal and technical hurdles, the delay in completion of the capital city over the past five years has resulted in cost esclation by nearly 30%.
The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) cancelled the existing contracts entered into during the previous TDP regime and called for fresh tenders to complete the works.
Tenders were awarded for works of Rs 41,000 crore during the earlier TDP regime. However, the works were stalled at various stages of completion after YSRCP came to power in 2019.
The damage to the construction material left behind by the contracting agencies alone cost the CRDA Rs 286.78 crore, which also had to pay damages to the agencies for cancelling the contracts.
Minister for municipal administration and urban development, P Narayana, said CRDA has to bear the burden of Rs 452.32 crore because of increased GST rates. Besides abandoning the works in the capital area, gravel was stolen by digging the roads, and construction materials like iron, doors, and air conditioning machines were stolen during the previous YSRCP regime, he said.
As per current market prices, the construction cost of 360 km of trunk roads has gone up by Rs 460 crore.
