5 months ago
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Congress MP K.C. Venugopal connected Monday (December 15, 2025) questioned whether the “massive spending” connected roads and bridges by the Centre was resulting successful harmless roads and accountable governance oregon creating a strategy wherever nationalist funds were being converted into backstage nett for a chosen few. He cited the lawsuit of Kerala where, helium alleged that, the authorities was favouring the Adani radical portion awarding the road roadworthy projects.
Participating successful the treatment connected Supplementary Demand for Grants successful the Lok Sabha, Mr. Venugopal said that from Kasaragod successful the northbound to Kollam successful the south, National Highway projects, 2 large stretches NH 66 and NH 544 were collapsing earlier the eyes of the public.
“What is happening successful Kerala is not an enactment of nature. It is the effect of a strategy wherever velocity and nett were prioritised implicit information and technological planning”. The MP said immoderate of the roadworthy projects had been awarded for arsenic precocious arsenic ₹45 crore per kilometre successful Kerala and termed it a “highway scam”.
“The scam is not accidental, but it is designed and facilitated by the Hybrid Annuity Model introduced by the Modi authorities successful 2016”, helium said.
He gave the illustration of the task of the Azhiyoo-Vengalam agelong of NH 66 successful northbound Kerala, which, helium said, was awarded to Adani Enterprises astatine ₹1,832 crore, which was sub-contracted to Wagad Infraprojects, Ahmedabad, for ₹971 crore, astir fractional the bid amount.
So, the existent outgo was ₹23.7 crore/km arsenic against Adani’s bid of ₹45 crore/km, helium said, adding this loot was ineligible due to the fact that it had been designed successful specified a fashion, the Congress person alleged.
Fundamental question
The MP said that for the twelvemonth 2025–26, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways projected an expenditure of astir ₹2.87 lakh crore, which was higher than past year. The allocation for roads and bridges unsocial was much than ₹1.16 lakh crore. But the House indispensable inquire a cardinal question arsenic to whether this monolithic spending was resulting successful harmless roads, accountable governance, and worth for nationalist wealth oregon was it creating a strategy wherever nationalist funds were converted into backstage nett for a chosen few?
He flagged the lawsuit of the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’, the flagship road programme of the government. “Approved successful 2017, Bharatmala Phase One was expected to beryllium completed by 2022, with a planned outgo of ₹5.35 lakh crore. Today, astir 8 years later, astir 88% of this magnitude has already been spent. Yet, lone astir fractional of the planned roadworthy magnitude has really been constructed”, helium said.
DMK’s T.R. Baalu demanded that the Centre instantly merchandise to Tamil Nadu, the pending funds nether the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, summation minimum enactment terms (MSP) for paddy, assistance support to metro projects for Coimbatore and Madurai and o.k. rightful dues nether the Samagra Siksha Abhiyan.
Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav besides claimed that the BJP authorities was moving for the large corporates and helping them with indebtedness waivers but not providing immoderate enactment successful presumption of waiver to distressed farmers. He wondered wherefore the authorities was not implementing the Swaminathan Commission Report connected MSP.
