3 months ago
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In an embarrassment to the Karnataka government, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has flagged superior deficiencies successful tendering processes and fiscal absorption successful the Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Project successful Hassan district, being implemented astatine a full outgo of ₹23,251.66-crore for a decennary now.
Financial viability
The CAG report, tabled successful the Legislative Assembly connected Thursday (January 29, 2026) , revealed that astir 80% of the task works were awarded to contractors without assessing their fiscal capacity, bid capacity, oregon enactment experience. It noted that 67% of the works, valued astatine ₹14,805.80 crore, were awarded to conscionable 7 contractors, with a azygous contractor securing 11 contracts worthy ₹5,216.58 crore. This attraction of contracts posed a important hazard to timely completion of the project, the study said.
The audit besides pointed retired instances of undue fiscal favour to contractors, including non-recovery of excess costs of tube materials, other payments for works already covered nether turnkey contracts, premature merchandise of retention wealth and show security, irregular beforehand payments for tube supply, and nonaccomplishment to retrieve benefits accrued to contractors owed to the implementation of GST.
Cost escalation
According to the report, the task outgo escalated by 179%, rising from ₹8,323.50 crore successful 2012 to ₹23,251.66 crore successful 2023. Despite much than a decennary of work, the task remains acold from completion, starring to prolonged delays successful delivering drinking h2o to drought-prone Kolar and Chickballapur districts, which look acute h2o scarcity.
Even aft an expenditure of ₹15,297 crore arsenic of March 2024, the project’s superior nonsubjective of providing drinking h2o to the 2 districts remains unfulfilled, the CAG noted.
The audit further observed that the availability of h2o successful the weirs during the five-year play from 2018 to 2023 ranged betwixt 7.20 TMCFT and 24.70 TMCFT, importantly little than the projected 32.15 TMCFT envisaged successful the Detailed Project Report (DPR). This mismatch resulted successful the instauration of infrastructure specified arsenic pipelines and pumping machinery with higher-than-required capacity, raising concerns astir inefficiency and imaginable h2o shortages.
The retention capableness of the balancing reservoir — considered a important constituent for ensuring summertime h2o proviso to Kolar and Chickballapur — was revised doubly and reduced from 10 TMCFT to 2 TMCFT, starring to an further outgo of ₹621.45 crore. The study besides pointed retired that onshore acquisition for the operation of the balancing reservoir astatine Lakkenahalli has not yet begun.
The CAG warned that Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam Ltd. faces fiscal uncertainty, with an estimated ₹7,954.63 crore inactive required to implicit the project.
Synchronisation issues
Lack of synchronisation betwixt Phase-I and Phase-II works resulted successful fragmented execution, creating infrastructure successful isolated patches. Assets worthy ₹2,965.77 crore created nether Phase-I could not beryllium utilised owed to the non-completion of Phase-II components specified arsenic the gravity canal and balancing reservoir needed to convey the lifted water, the study said.
As a result, electro-mechanical equipment, including pumps and motors, could not beryllium tested oregon commissioned and remains idle, consuming a important information of its utile life, the study added.
