New water supply scheme to cost Rs 2500 crore!

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad, Sept 1:

Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP), the nodal agency appointed by the state government to implement the new water supply scheme of valuing Rs 1680 crore, has geared up to revise the old DPR as the scheme will be included under the Central Government’s AMRUT 2.0 Scheme. Meanwhile, it is hinted that the cost of the project is likely to escalate to Rs 2500 crore in the revised DPR.

The new DPR will be submitted to the State Government in three weeks and then it will be forwarded to the Central Government for final approval.

Earlier, the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated starting of the new water supply scheme works in December 2020. MJP is the nodal agency appointed for the implementation and execution of the project. After completing the tender process the civil works (under Phase I) valuing Rs 1308 crore was awarded to the Hyderabad-based GVPR company. Meanwhile, the cash-strapped Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is unable to put its monetary share in the water project. Hence, the movement to transfer the scheme for its implementation under AMRUT 2.0 gained momentum.

Online AMRUT meeting today

An online meeting was held in connection with AMRUT Scheme on Thursday. The AMC administrator Abhijeet Chaudhari attended the meeting. “The discussion was held over the feasibility of including the scheme under AMRUT 2.0 and if it happens then the old DPR will have to be revised and resubmitted. The MJP will send the new DPR to AMC for technical approval. Later on, the civic administration will pass a resolution and submit it to the state’s Urban Development Department (UDD) and then after completing the formalities it will be submitted to the Central Government for inclusion,” said Chaudhari.

“The proposal of developing and beautifying Kamal Talao (near Aam Khas) Maidan has also been approved under AMRUT 2.0. The DPR is ready with us and will be sent for technical approval. Meanwhile, the process to include the proposal of laying drainage pipeline in Satara-Deolai area under AMRUT 2.0 scheme is also underway,” said the AMC administrator.

Revision of DPR

The estimated cost was Rs 1680 crore at the time of the scheme’s approval. The proposed works under the first phase were Rs 1308 crore. However, the tender was awarded 10 per cent above. Hence the cost of the project automatically escalated by Rs 130 crore. Later on, the cost of steel increased following the Ukraine war. Meanwhile, the state government has approved granting escalated price differences to the contractor. Considering all this, it is being guessed that the cost of revised DPR would likely be around Rs 2500 crore, said the sources.