Chandigarh Audit Flags Major Irregularities in Streetlight Project

Chandigarh Audit Flags Major Irregularities in Streetlight Project

A recent audit report on a streetlight project in Chandigarh has flagged significant financial and procedural irregularities, highlighting both a massive cost escalation and issues related to unverified Goods and Services Tax (GST) payments made to the contractor.

Key Findings of the Audit

• Massive Cost Escalation: The audit revealed a major disparity, reporting a 44.75% cost escalation in the overall project expenditure compared to the initial estimates. Such a significant variance points to failures in planning, contracting, or oversight during execution.
• Unverified GST Payments: The audit specifically flagged that the project involved making substantial GST payments to the contractor that were unverified. This indicates a failure by the government department responsible for the project to properly ensure that the tax component claimed and remitted to the contractor was accurate and correctly deposited with the tax authorities.
• Procedural Lapse: The twin issues of cost escalation and unverified GST payments point to serious procedural lapses in the project management and finance division of the implementing authority.

Significance

The report underscores the critical need for stricter financial control and compliance checks, especially concerning tax payments to contractors, to prevent unauthorized spending and revenue leakage in large government infrastructure projects.

Source :- The Hindustan Times