Rajasthan PHED Under Scanner After ₹35 Crore Bisalpur-Ajmer Pipeline Tender Cancelled Following Major Planning Lapse

Jaipur/Ajmer: Rajasthan’s Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) is facing serious scrutiny after a ₹35 crore water infrastructure tender linked to the Bisalpur-Ajmer Drinking Water Project was cancelled at an advanced stage of the bidding process following the discovery that a larger pipeline project was already under execution on the same route.

The controversy has raised major questions over administrative coordination, technical planning, and financial oversight within the department, with critics alleging that crores of rupees could have been wasted on a duplicate project had the issue not surfaced in time.

Project Approved Despite Existing Pipeline Work

According to official records, the project originated under Budget Announcement 2024-25, Point No. 8.09, which proposed replacing an old 1200 MM PSCC pipeline between Goyla Headworks and Nasirabad Headworks under the Bisalpur-Ajmer Drinking Water Project.

For this purpose, a budget of approximately ₹34.95 crore was sanctioned for laying a new MS pipeline.

The proposal subsequently moved rapidly through multiple administrative stages:

• August 21, 2024: Ministerial approval granted on file.
• September 23, 2024: Financial concurrence issued by the Finance Department.
• November 6, 2024: Administrative and financial sanction of ₹3491.18 lakh formally issued.
• July 2025: Tender process completed up to the stage of finalisation of price bids, with preparations reportedly underway for issuing the work order.

At this point, the project had effectively cleared all major procedural hurdles and was nearing execution.

Major Oversight Detected During Review Meeting

The situation reportedly changed during a high-level review meeting chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) in May 2026.

During the review, officials discovered that the same route segments — specifically chainage 11025-17436 and 19396-19785 — were already covered under the Bisalpur-Ajmer Drinking Water Supply Project Phase-3, where a larger 1500 MM MS pipeline was already being laid.

The revelation reportedly stunned officials, as the duplicate project would have resulted in parallel pipeline works on the same alignment despite the Phase-3 infrastructure already being under implementation.

Questions Over Technical and Administrative Coordination

The discovery has triggered sharp criticism of PHED’s planning and technical monitoring mechanisms.

Observers are questioning how a separate ₹35 crore estimate was prepared, sanctioned, tendered, and taken to the price-bid stage despite the existence of an ongoing larger pipeline project on the same route.

The controversy has raised concerns over whether proper ground verification, inter-departmental coordination, and technical review were carried out before granting approvals.

Critics argue that if the duplication had not been identified during the review stage, public funds could have been spent on a completely redundant infrastructure project.

Tender Cancelled After Bids Finalised

Following the discovery, the Finance Committee reportedly agreed on April 27, 2026, to cancel the project based on recommendations made by the Chief Engineer (U&NRW).

The ongoing tender process, including the already-opened price bids and proposed rate approvals, was immediately annulled. The project itself was formally de-sanctioned.

Since the work formed part of an official budget announcement, PHED has now reportedly approached the Finance Department seeking formal withdrawal of the project from the approved budget provisions.

Allegations of Mismanagement and Possible Financial Irregularities

The episode has intensified allegations of serious administrative mismanagement within Rajasthan PHED.

Several key questions are now being raised:

• How did the department fail to identify an already ongoing Phase-3 pipeline project on the same route for nearly two years?
• Why were multiple levels of technical, financial, and administrative approvals granted without verifying existing infrastructure works?
• Who will be held accountable for the expenditure of government resources on preparing, processing, and finalising a tender that eventually had to be cancelled?
• Was the duplicate project merely a planning failure, or does it point toward deeper issues involving inflated estimates and questionable tender practices?

The controversy has further damaged the credibility of PHED at a time when the department is already under increasing scrutiny over tendering practices, project delays, and financial management under major drinking water schemes.

Concerns Over Public Money and Governance

Experts believe the incident reflects broader structural issues in infrastructure planning and project monitoring within government departments.

The fact that a duplicate pipeline proposal advanced all the way to the price-bid stage before being halted has raised concerns over the effectiveness of internal checks, technical audits, and project integration systems.

Officials now face pressure to determine responsibility for the lapse and decide whether disciplinary action will be initiated against the officers and technical personnel involved in the planning and approval process.

For now, the cancellation may have prevented a potential waste of public funds, but the incident has exposed significant weaknesses in administrative governance and project execution mechanisms within Rajasthan’s water infrastructure system.