Suvarna Soudha cost to exceed Rs 400 crore

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posted on 13 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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BANGALORE: Construction costs of the Suvarna Soudha in Belgaum which would house the Legislature Secretariat, Assembly and Counci..

BANGALORE: Construction costs of the Suvarna Soudha in Belgaum which would house the Legislature Secretariat, Assembly and Council hall is likely to exceed Rs 400 crore, said Minister for Public Works C M Udasi.
Refuting the allegation that his ministry recently decided to increase the construction cost of the structure by over Rs120 crore, the minister said that the additional cost would only be around Rs 2030 crore and not as reported by a section of the media.The Suvarna Soudha was estimated to be constructed at a cost of Rs 230 crore originally which was later revised to Rs 350 crore in 2009, following the decision to add a central hall to the approved project, said the minister. He averred that the total area of the building was redesigned from 12,613 sq m to 16,138 sq m a 30 per cent increase. The minister expressed confidence that the new Legislature enclave would be ready by September 2011.

A Mumbaibased firm, B G Shirke Constructions, was entrusted with building the structure. The original estimate, according to him, made no mention about constructing a central hall, council hall and cabinet hall and the expenses on furnishing the structure. "The changes in design and decision to add more space resulted in escalation of cost of construction."

The minister informed that the PWD has initiated a massive project to improve over 15,000 km of roads in north and south zones at a total cost of over Rs 4,677 crore. The project, which will be implemented in two phases, includes strengthening, widening and renewal of road networks. "There are no dearth of funds for the works."