A recent government audit has unveiled that the construction expenses for the Dwarka Expressway, a part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana phase-1, have ballooned to 14 times the initial sanctioned amount set by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 2017.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report highlights that the expressway, designed to alleviate congestion on NH-48 between Delhi and Gurugram by transforming it into a 14-lane national highway, was built at a staggering per-kilometer cost of ₹250.77 crore, greatly surpassing the approved cost of ₹18.20 crore per kilometer.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways explained in its response that the decision to develop the Dwarka Expressway as an eight-lane elevated corridor with limited entry and exit points was intended to facilitate seamless interstate traffic movement. However, the CAG has criticized this choice, citing that there is no documented justification for constructing elevated lanes for an average daily traffic of 55,432 passenger vehicles, when only six lanes were originally planned and constructed for the actual average daily traffic of 2,32,959 passenger vehicles.
The CAG report also underscores that this isn’t an isolated case of cost discrepancies. Nationwide, the sanctioned costs for projects under the Bharatmala Pariyojana have exceeded the approved costs by 58 percent. For instance, the approved cost for 34,800 km of project length was ₹5,35,000 crore, whereas the actual sanctioned cost reached ₹8,46,588 crore.
Despite these escalating expenses, the target to complete 34,800 km of national highways by 2022 has not been met. Only 38.79 percent of the approved length, accounting for 13,499 km of national highways, was completed by March 31, 2023. This slow progress also factors in construction challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report attributes the cost surge to substantial alterations in project scope and cost estimates, along with the adoption of more extensive project specifications.
These changes have led to a notable increase of ₹10 crore per kilometer of construction for projects awarded during Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase 1.
