Delay in irrigation projects costs Telangana exchequer Rs 1 trn more: CAG

The cost of 20 irrigation projects commenced between 1983 and 2018 in Telangana doubled from over Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore as on March 2023, due to non-completion, the CAG report has said.

According to the report (for 2022-23) by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which was placed in the state legislature on Friday, non-completion of projects deprives the state of the intended benefits of economic growth and there was no assurance on returns from the investments in irrigation and flood control as the state government did not disclose financial results of any of the irrigation projects.

"There were 20 incomplete irrigation projects (commenced between 1983 and 2018) to be completed by the year 2023. The original cost of these projects has increased from Rs 1,02,388 crore to Rs 2,06,977 crore i.e., an escalation by Rs 1,04,589 crore (102 per cent)," the auditing watchdog said.

An expenditure of Rs 1,73,564 crore was incurred on these projects as of March 2023. In addition to this, the government has a pending liability of Rs 8,971 crore in respect of 13 incomplete irrigation projects, the report said.

"Inordinate delays in the completion of these projects/works not only keep the financial burden of the government increasing year after year, but also depriving the public of the intended benefits," the CAG report opined.

The CAG also said Hyderabad Urban Agglomeration is a case where there has been no expenditure despite Rs 10,000 crore being proposed in the budget of 2020-21 to carry out Musi River purification and Musi River Front Project, among others, with an estimation that Rs 50,000 crore would be required for next five years ( 2020-21 onwards).

However, the entire provision of Rs 10,000 crore remained unutilised during 2020-21 and the following year (2021-22) the budget was reduced significantly to Rs 2,600 crore and the next year (2022-23) it was further shrank to justice Rs 200 crore even and the reduced provision remained unutilised, the report said.