IITs to conduct quality checks for projects worth over ₹100 crore

Major infrastructure projects involving roads, bridges, and sewers will undergo a third-party audit by premier technical institutes

Major infrastructure projects involving roads, bridges, and sewers will undergo a third-party audit by premier technical institutes.

According to the government order issued by Deepak Kumar, additional chief secretary, finance, on Friday, premier technical institutes have been assigned divisions and projects.

The IIT Kanpur will conduct the third-party quality audit (TPQA) for districts falling under Kanpur, Lucknow, Banda, Prayagraj, Ayodhya, Agra, Jhansi and Devipatan divisions. The TPQA will be done for projects worth over ₹100 crore.

IIT BHU, Varanasi will do TPQA for districts under Basti, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Varanasi and Mirzapur divisions, while IIT Roorkee will do TPQA for districts under Saharanpur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Meerut and Aligarh divisions.

The projects include water supply, sewer work, and other public utility projects. Uttar Pradesh planning department had proposed for this audit.

A third-party audit is an independent, objective evaluation conducted by an external agency to verify that infrastructure projects or utilities are planned, designed, and executed in accordance with mandated technical specifications, safety codes, environmental standards. Unlike internal audits, this external review ensures that planning processes are free from conflicts of interest.

According to officials, the third-party audit includes inspection at different stages right from the start to finish, and thereafter the report is made on the basis of the inspections done.