Nitin Gadkari agrees to discuss fate of Transstroy deal on October 24

Hyderabad: Union water resources minister Nitin Gadkari told AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu during their meeting on Tuesday, that he would take a decision on whether or not to continue with the Polavaram dam contractor Transstroy (India) Limited after a high-level meeting in Delhi on October 24.

In his dinner meeting with Mr Naidu at his residence in Nagpur, Mr Gadkari told the Chief Minister that he needed to discuss in detail the issue of termination of contract and calling for fresh tenders for the Polavaram project and he would do it after his return to Delhi.

He said he would call a meeting with officials from the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA), the Central Water Commission and the Union water resources ministry to discuss the issue.

Mr Naidu updated Mr Gadkari on the situation at Polavaram project and said Transstroy was not taking interest in fulfilling its obligation of completing the work on schedule. Nr Naidu said he needed to change the contractor and call for fresh tenders in order to complete the work by May 2019.

Mr Naidu explained that by terminating the contract, the government would need to pay a part of the compensation.

The Chief Minister told Mr Gadkari said the Centre needed to approve the latest revised estimate for the project.