'No wrongdoing in any infra project'

Contesting claims of a cost overrun in the construction of the Dwarka Expressway by the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG), Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari asserted that the project did not experience any cost overrun or corruption.

- Rituraj Baruah & Subhash Narayan

Speaking at the Mint Sustainability Summit 2023 on Wednesday, he, however, added that ministry officials erred in not providing a written response to CAG’s findings.

“In the Bharatmala programme, there was no detailed estimated cost. It was written separately that the cost of ring roads and flyovers would be finalized after the DPR (detailed project report) is ready. In the case of Dwarka Expressway, for the first time, there have been multiple developments. There are tunnels, bridges and bridges over bridges. It is a state-of-the-art project. Despite that, our cost is ₹18.5 crore (per kilometre) only."