Overview

• 100 Central Nodal Officer teams, comprising senior officials, will inspect 183 high-value schemes in 29 states and Union Territories.
• The inspections follow a Finance Ministry recommendation to cut additional funding by 46%, citing cost overruns and inflated contracts.
• A 2022 amendment to tender rules, removing the cap on tender premiums, contributed to a ₹16,839 crore cost escalation across 14,586 schemes.
• The Jal Jeevan Mission has approved 6.4 lakh schemes since 2019, with total projected costs doubling from ₹3.6 lakh crore to ₹8.29 lakh crore.
• Inspection teams are tasked with evaluating financial propriety and work quality, focusing on schemes representing 20% of the mission's total expenditure.