Modi govt has broken all records of corruption: Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday alleged that the Narendra Modi government has broken "all records of corruption" after the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) of India reportedly flagged the "very high" construction cost of the Dwarka Expressway.

However, the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways in a statement rejected the charge, calling it "gross misrepresentation of facts".

According to media reports, the CAG audit report on the implementation of Phase-I of the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana' highway projects has flagged how the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) decision to go for an elevated carriageway on the Haryana portion of the Dwarka Expressway pushed up the construction cost to Rs 251 crore per kilometer from Rs 18.2 crore per kilometer.

"The Modi government has broken all the records of corruption in the past 75 years," Kejriwal alleged in a post on X, earlier known as Twitter, sharing a screenshot of a media report on the CAG report.

Addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters here, party Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sanjay Singh also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the media report and said his government is the "most corrupt" since independence.

"The Narendra Modi government constructed the road (Dwarka Expressway) at a cost of Rs 250 crore per kilometer while it was to be constructed at the rate of Rs 18 crore per kilometer," he said, citing the CAG report.

Under the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana', 75,000 kilometers of roads were to be constructed at the rate of Rs 15 crore per kilometer, Singh said. "But the Modi government increased the cost to Rs 25 crore per kilometer," he claimed.

"This government has committed a scam worth Rs 7.5 lakh crore in the Bharatmala project," Singh charged and asked the prime minister to stop talking about his government's commitment to end corruption in the country.

The AAP MP also alleged that industrialist Gautam Adani is the "biggest beneficiary" in the project with his companies engaged in the implementation of road construction projects under the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana' in various states, including Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat.

Dismissing the charge, the ministry said the factual position of the cost per kilometer is that in approval of the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana', as such project-wise cost was not approved.

"It only provided overall outlay for the programme. As such, ascribing an increase of cost from Rs 18.2 crore per kilometre to Rs 250 crore per kilometre is gross misrepresentation of facts," the ministry said in a statement.

It said that the per kilometer cost of Rs 18.2 crore was considered as "normative cost" for formulation of the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana' for approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

"The civil cost/capital cost of the project being undertaken under the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana' varies based on its design features, terrain and geographical locations," the ministry said.

Under the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana', the ministry said, the average cost for special projects enveloping substantial lengths of "bridges/via-ducts/tunnels" is Rs 152 crore per kilometer. "It may be appreciated that construction cost varies based on the nature of the project," it added.

At the press conference, AAP leader Singh also alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Centre's Ayushman Bharat, a national health protection scheme, as well as elderly pension scheme.

"It's clearly visible that the cost of road construction under the Bharatmala project was increased, dead people are getting treatment under Ayushman, Ayushman Bharat card of 10 lakh people were made based on just three phone numbers," he alleged.