Changing contractor will lead to cost escalation: Centre to

The Union Water Resources Ministry is learnt to have conveyed to the Andhra Pradesh government that changing contractor for the ambitious Polavaram project at this stage will lead to cost escalation and delay in completion of work.
The view has been conveyed as the Andhra Pradesh government has reportedly been seeking change of the contractor, alleging that the firm concerned is not taking interest in completing the work on schedule, official sources said.
The state government wants to complete the work by mid- 2019.
Speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting here to discuss the project, Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Centre will cooperate with the Chandrababu Naidu government to ensure completion of work on time.

"They (the state government) want to complete the work by 2019. We will cooperate with them," he said.
The meeting was attended by Union Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Ram Meghwal and Andhra Pradesh Water Resources Minister Devineni Uma Maheshwara Rao, besides senior officials.

"The state government was told that changing the project contractor at this point will lead to cost escalation and delay its implementation...The state was also suggested to support the contractor to see the project is completed on time," a source said.
In 2014, the estimated cost of the multipurpose irrigation project -- accorded national project status and often described as 'lifeline' -- was Rs 16,000 crore. The estimated cost has been revised to Rs 40,000 crore.

Naidu had met Gadkari over the issue earlier this month and reportedly told him that the contractor was allegedly not taking interest in completing the work on schedule. Naidu also reportedly said the government needed to change the contractor to see the work is completed by mid-2019.
Gadkari had inspected the Polavaram work in the first week of this month. He had ruled out the possibility of finishing the project by 2018 and promised to try his level best to complete it before the 2019 elections.
The Andhra Pradesh government had repeatedly promised to complete the project (cofferdam) by June 2018 and supply water through gravity. However, its timeline has been reset to mid- 2019.