Hyderabad: Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy reviewed HAM road projects in Telangana and sought detailed reports on tenders, excess bids and rising construction costs.
The State Secretariat hosted the three-hour review meeting on Monday. Officials briefed the minister on project execution, financial implications, quality standards and infrastructure expansion.
Officials informed the minister that Telangana recorded lower excess bids in HAM road projects compared to several other states.
They explained that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways introduced the Hybrid Annuity Model. NHAI has implemented the model since 2016 in several states, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
HAM road projects face rising construction costs
Officials informed the minister that more than 374 HAM projects worth nearly Rs 4 lakh crore to Rs 5 lakh crore were under implementation across the country.
They also said Gujarat recorded excess bids of up to 66 percent. Maharashtra witnessed nearly 47 percent excess in similar projects.
A major discussion during the meeting focused on rising construction costs. Officials said bitumen prices increased from Rs 44,000 per metric tonne during tendering to nearly Rs 89,000 per metric tonne now.
Officials added that GST burden, maintenance obligations, fuel prices and global economic conditions significantly affected project costs.
According to officials, the Roads and Buildings Department was executing 441 road development works under HAM Phase-I. The projects cover 6,092 kilometres in 34 packages at a cost of Rs 13,006 crore.
Officials also said the Panchayat Raj Department was implementing 2,162 road works in 17 packages. These projects cover 7,450 kilometres at a cost of Rs 6,250 crore.
Komatireddy Venkat Reddy said quality road infrastructure was essential for industrial growth, better connectivity and employment generation in Telangana.
The minister said the government was committed to strengthening infrastructure through long-term planning and quality execution. He also said he would discuss final aspects related to the projects with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy within two days.
R&B Chief Engineer B.V. Rao and senior officials attended the meeting.