JOIN USAddressing reporters here, he said a tender had been called for the project, with an estimated cost of Rs 250.65 crore in 2009, but it was later revised to Rs 350 crore in the backdrop of the constructed area going up by a total of 3,520 sq m. But it has now come to light that former Chief Secretary K Sudhakar Rao had taken exception to the cost escalation for the construction of the Suvarna Soudha.
Rao had also taken exception to the construction of the central hall in the premises stating that it was not suited to host joint sessions of legislature, according to the minutes of an advisory committee meeting held on November 9, 2009. The then Public Works Department Principal Secretary too had rejected the proposal to acquire 25 acres around the Suvarna Soudha as a security measure. The officer had stated that the estimated cost of the Suvarna Soudha should not be revised.
As per norms, the proceedings of the advisory committee should have come before the Cabinet. But, according to sources, some ministers, in collusion with engineers, revised the estimates without bringing it before the Cabinet.