Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has expressed the resolve to work together with the Central government for the speedy execution of the Polavaram project, irrespective of who the contractor is.
Addressing the TDP’s State-level workshop here on Sunday, Mr. Naidu said that Navayuga Engineering Company Limited had come forward to execute the concrete works at the old rates. An escrow account was being opened, he added. Mr. Naidu said the total project cost had escalated from ₹16,100 crore in 2010-11 to approximately ₹58,320 crore by 2013-14. Of the ₹7,430 crore spent on the project so far, only ₹4,325 crore was released by the Central government, he added.
Union Minister of Water Resources Nitin Gadkari found no irregularities in the project that were said to have been committed by the State in implementing the project, and it was just a matter of time before it got all the technical clearances, Mr. Naidu said.
“This will be a big boost for the State as it reels under the impact of bifurcation, beset by a huge fiscal deficit and acute resource crunch,” Mr. Naidu said.
