Chennai: Contractors who won tenders for key road and bridge works under the Tamil Nadu Highways Department have raised complaints that payments are being released late even after projects are completed.
The department has construction and maintenance divisional offices at 68 locations across the state. Under the previous administration, multiple road schemes were taken up with an estimated outlay of about Rs 25,000 crore.
Contractors said around 80% of those works have now been completed, while the remaining projects are at various stages. However, they alleged that contractors who secured tenders during the previous regime are facing pressure due to delays in fund release.
According to some contractors, earlier payments were typically cleared within 15 to 30 days of completing work. Now, despite finishing road and flyover works and submitting the required documents, they say payments are not being released on time.
They added that the delay is affecting their ability to continue successive works and to take up new projects. While welcoming transparency in government functioning, they urged that payment release should not be delayed merely because the tenders were awarded during the previous administration.
