Ahead of polls, PWD cleared road works worth 4 times the budget

The sharp spike in approvals has not only resulted in the outstanding dues to contractors swelling to ₹13,527 crore, it has also stopped the department from making fresh budgetary allocations for any new road works for at least the next three years

Mumbai: Ahead of the assembly polls in November 2024, the state public works department (PWD) gave administrative approval for roads worth ₹64,000 crore, against its annual budgetary provision of ₹ ₹15,000 crore for state and district roads, sources in the department told Hindustan Times. The sharp spike in approvals has not only resulted in the outstanding dues to contractors swelling to ₹13,527 crore, it has also stopped the department from making fresh budgetary allocations for any new road works for at least the next three years, the sources mentioned.

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“The average value of road projects approved ahead of the assembly polls was ₹350 crore per district, which is otherwise around ₹50 crore per district per year,” said a senior PWD official, requesting not to be identified. Most of the approved projects were in constituencies of around 200 legislators associated with the major parties in the Mahayuti alliance – BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP.

“Road projects were approved to woo legislators and ensure they remained loyal to the ruling Mahayuti alliance or enable them to get elected with the help of ‘financial benefits’ courtesy the road contracts,” the official quoted earlier said.

The PWD’s annual budget for 2024-25 was ₹27,000 crore, out of which ₹15,000 crore was to be ulitised for road construction while the remaining amount was meant for construction and maintenance of buildings. Following the approval of road projects worth ₹64,000 ahead of the polls, work worth ₹13,527 crore was completed, the bills for which are still pending with the department, said officials.

Most of the approved road construction projects are now stuck midway as contractors’ bills are pending, said officials.

The government cannot clear the pending bills due to massive spending on the Ladki Bahin scheme, at ₹3,700 crore per year, the officials mentioned. Excessive approvals during the election year have also restricted the government from approving new roads or making any provisions in the budget for 2025-26 or the supplementary demands tabled in June, due to which the condition of existing roads would worsen, they added.

“As an exception, the state government allocated funds only for three state road projects this year,” said a finance department official. The projects pertained to roads worth ₹1,500 crore in Nashik for the upcoming Kumbh Mela, roads worth ₹600 crore in the Gadchiroli mining corridor, and roads worth ₹400 crore in Chandrapur.

“The finance department is in the process of releasing ₹10,000 crore against the outstanding bills,” the finance department official said.

PWD minister Shivendra Raje Bhosale said, “We have been making budgetary provisions in phases to clear the pending bills.”

Apart from dues pertaining to the PWD’s road contracts, the state government owes an additional ₹10,000 crore against bills for work undertaken by the rural development, water supply, and district planning departments. These and other departments had awarded contracts worth ₹35,000 crore ahead of the assembly polls, said officials.

Milind Bhosale, president of the Maharashtra State Contractors Federation said road contracts awarded by the PWD and the rural development department in the election year were unprecedented.

“It is true that most of the projects have been abandoned midway, leaving the roads in bad condition,” Bhosale said, blaming the situation on outstanding bills and the lack of any payments since March this year.

Nearly 400,000 government contractors across the state will stage a protest against the pending dues on August 19, he said.