CAG flags unrealistic rates, cost overestimation by CPWD

The government has a special team called the CAG that checks how tax money is spent.

This team looked at another government group called CPWD.

CPWD is in charge of building and repairing government buildings.

It makes a big list of prices for those jobs, called the Schedule of Rates.

The CAG found that the prices on this list were too high.

It says the real-world prices are usually much lower.

In fact, 93 out of every 100 projects got bids that were cheaper than the official estimate.

The CAG says CPWD did not check the markets before making the list in 2021.

This means the government may have been guessing prices instead of using real ones.

The report was shared with Parliament so leaders could see the problem.