PWD red-flags massive spike inChandni Chowk revamp costs

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

The Public Works Department (PWD) has discovered large-scale irregularities in the Chandni Chowk redevelopment plan, according to an inter-departmental report, which highlighted lapses such as an apparent two-fold increase in cost, bypassed approvals, diverted funds, and lapses in planning and execution. The Chandni Chowk redevelopment, intended to restore the Mughal-era market's heritage charm and improve pedestrian access, was launched in 2019. (HT Archive)
According to an internal report submitted to the PWD minister Parvesh Verma, the project's cost — originally approved at ₹65.6 crore — rose to a whopping ₹145.72 crore when the project was completed in 2019.
For now, the minister-in-charge is likely to review the report and decide on possible action to be taken, which could include a formal probe into the approvals process, tendering, and fund diversion.
Officials said this expenditure was allowed without any fresh budgetary sanction or cabinet approval. Notably, all projects above ₹100 crore must be cleared by the cabinet.
The report, also seen by HT, showed that the initial civil and electrical works were pegged at ₹27.79 crore but eventually surged to ₹105.93 crore. For this, additional work was assigned to the same contractor under the existing contract, as against inviting fresh tenders for additional works, officials alleged.
'Out of the total project expenditure, over ₹70 crore was spent on 'extra items and deviations', far exceeding the sanctioned scope… The project suffered from severe deficiencies in cost estimation, planning, and financial control… Overall execution lacked due diligence and led to fiscal indiscipline,' the report mentioned.
Further, the department had only submitted a preliminary estimate (PE) of ₹40.6 crore as against the revised estimate of ₹145 crore, the report showed, terming it a 'deliberate attempt to avoid presenting the full proposal before the cabinet.'
'This bypass not only undermined governance oversight, but also set a precedent for ignoring established financial procedures,' the report added.
Moreover, the inquiry flagged an instance where ₹30 crore was diverted from the PWD maintenance head to the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRDC) without the mandatory concurrence from the finance department.
'In this case, the engineer-in-chief directly submitted the file to the minister-in-charge, bypassing both the departmental secretary and the finance department. This is a serious breach of rules and regulations and an outright violation of financial discipline,' a PWD official said.
The report also points to 'continued spending beyond sanctioned limits' as a recurring pattern, with additional works awarded without competitive bidding, no fresh tenders invited and payments made in violation of financial transparency and procurement norms.
'The Chandni Chowk Redevelopment Project stands as a textbook case of how public money can be mishandled when rules are bent and procedures bypassed. In 2019, under the then minister-in-charge, costs spiralled, tenders were ignored, and crores were diverted, all without mandatory approvals. Delhi deserves better. Under my watch, PWD will not be a playground for irregularities but a fortress of transparency and accountability, where every paisa serves the people, not personal interests,' PWD minister Verma said.
To recall, the Delhi government was led by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in 2019 when the project was undertaken.
The AAP said this was a false case and that opening older enquiries only shows the incompetence of the lieutenant governor (LG). 'The BJP government knows that they won this Assembly elections through cheating and voter list manipulation. They are scared that the people of Delhi now want the AAP government back. Therefore, out of desperation, the BJP wants to file hundreds of false cases against AAP leaders. This is being done to dissuade AAP leaders from asking questions to the government. It was the BJP's LG who was appointing officers to various positions. Opening enquiries into old cases only shows the incompetence of their LG,' the statement added.
The Chandni Chowk redevelopment, intended to restore the Mughal-era market's heritage charm and improve pedestrian access, was launched in 2019. The plan included street revamp of the area, creating a pedestrian friendly environment with distinctive character of Chandni Chowk, integrated plan for all the services and creating a heritage environment along the stretch of Chandni Chowk from Lal Jain Mandir to Fatehpuri Masjid.