Hyderabad: Roads and Buildings department officials on Monday, May 11, told Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy that contractors in Telangana were quoting much lower amounts for HAM projects compared to similar projects in other states.
The Roads and Buildings Minister was holding a review meeting at the Secretariat, where he sought a detailed explanation on the tender process, project costs and excess bids concerning Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) road projects.
Officials informed that across the country, over 374 HAM projects worth nearly Rs 4–5 lakh crore are currently in progress. Gujarat has recorded excess bids of up to 66 per cent, while Maharashtra witnessed nearly 47 per cent excess in HAM projects. Similar trends have been observed in several National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) projects as well, they said.
Speaking of construction costs, officials said bitumen prices (the material used for laying roads) increased from Rs 44,000 per metric tonne at the time of tendering to nearly Rs 89,000 per metric tonne at present, reflecting a 100 per cent rise.
Increase in GST burden, maintenance obligations, fuel prices and global economic conditions have significantly impacted project costs, they said.
Officials further noted that HAM projects involve additional expenditure due to advanced machinery, modern engineering designs, long-term maintenance responsibilities, ambulance and patrolling services, independent engineer charges and GST liabilities.
Currently, the Roads and Buildings Department is executing 441 road development works under HAM Phase-I at an estimated cost of Rs 13,006 crore. The projects cover 6,092 km in 34 packages.
Additionally, the Panchayat Raj Department is implementing 2,162 road works spanning 7,450 km at a cost of Rs 6,250 crore under 17 packages.
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