Forget Cost Saving for Polavaram, Additional Burden with Reverse Tendering

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Government had claimed to have saved 780 Crore in Polavaram Project via Reverse Tendering. The Government claimed this saving due to the elimination of Kickbacks like in Chandrababu’s tenure and bringing transparency.

Polavaram contractor has been changed in the name of Reverse Tendering. But that has become Reverse now. The State Government has now escalated the cost of the project by 1,656 Crore. The so-called savings were lost and the contractor is bringing in an additional 876 Crore burden.

That means the benefit of the Reverse Tendering is lost and the cost only escalated. The main dam works which were estimated to cost 5,535 Crore earlier will now cost 7,192 Crore. Polavaram works used to go on at jet speed when Navayuga is the contractor. The company did not go for any cost escalation when it took over the project.

The works have also slowed down drastically in the two years after Megha Engineering Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) took over. The Opposition claims only 2% of works have been completed after Jagan Government came to power.