Deputy Chief Minister Arun Saw released the new rate schedule for road and bridge works

Deputy Chief Minister and Public Works Minister Shri Arun Saw today released the new rate schedule (SOR) for road and bridge works. The old SOR, prevalent since 2015, has been updated by the Public Works Department of the State Government. New machinery and new construction techniques have also been included in the new SOR. These will reduce the financial risk of contractors along with quality work. The new SOR will be implemented in the state from January 1, 2025. For effective maintenance of roads, PBMC/OPRMC (Performance Based Maintenance Contract/Output and Performance Based Maintenance Contract) will also be implemented in Chhattisgarh. For this, a pilot project will be started by the department soon.

Addressing a press conference organized on the occasion of the release of the new SOR, Deputy Chief Minister Shri Arun Saw said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai, special emphasis is being laid on ensuring the quality of construction works in Chhattisgarh and completing them within the time limit. After the implementation of the new SOR, these will become easier. He informed that the currently prevalent SOR is applicable from 1 January 2015. At that time, it included the rate of workers, rate of material and rate of machinery prevalent in 2014, which have changed a lot after ten years. The new rate schedule has been prepared on the basis of the currently prevalent rate of workers, rate of material and rate of machinery.

Deputy Chief Minister Shri Saw informed that the rate schedule issued in the year 2015 was prepared by incorporating all the taxes prevalent at that time. GST applicable in the country from 1st July 2017 has been incorporated in the new SOR. Contractors will give their tender rates including GST so that the contractor will not have to pay GST separately, but the effect of GST will be included in the cost of the work. By keeping the rates without the effect of GST, the contractor does not have any risk in doing the work due to the change in GST rates from time to time. The prevailing GST rates including the effect of GST will be added to the estimate. By doing this, there will be no financial risk on the contractors.

Shri Saav told in the press conference that in the last 10 years, many new technologies, new materials and changes have been made in the working process of various works by IRC. Provision for the use of these new technologies and materials has also been made in the new SOR. These include new things like soil stabilization with cement and chemicals, pavement white topping, use of aluminium composite material sheeting in road signage, precast RCC drain, precast box culvert, use of high grades of RCC M-40, M-45, M-50 in foundation work, pre-stressing in sub-structure work, bamboo crash barrier and noise barrier.

Shri Saav said that with the implementation of the new rate schedule, the assessment of work cost in the DPR/estimate of construction works will be realistic and the amount to be granted administrative approval for the works will require revised approval at the time of work. Meaningful results will be achieved in terms of quality of works and completion within the time limit.

Deputy Chief Minister Shri Sao informed that in the current system for the maintenance of roads, maintenance work is done by inviting tenders and selecting contractors after forecasting the possibility of the road getting damaged during the rainy season. Many times, such a situation arises that the road remains in bad condition, but due to non-availability of agency for maintenance, there is delay in filling the potholes and maintenance of the roads. Many times, even after the agency is determined, the roads remain potholed and damaged due to the contractor not doing the maintenance work on time. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Public Works Department of many states are doing the maintenance work of roads through PBMC (Performance Based Maintenance Contract) / OPRMC (Output and Performance Based Maintenance Contract) method. For its maintenance, roads are selected and only one agency is determined for continuous maintenance for 5 to 7 years and in case of road damage or any kind of sudden repair / major damage, the repair work of the road is done within the stipulated time limit by the agency determined for the repair work. Regular maintenance of the road is also done by the contractor within the time limit. If the contractor does not do the road surface improvement work within the stipulated time limit, then there is a provision of penalty for each day of delay. This process is also monitored online, so that where the road is in good or bad condition, it can be seen from the control room. The Public Works Department has also decided to work with this method in Chhattisgarh. Soon some districts will be selected on a pilot basis and it will be implemented. On getting positive results of the pilot projects, it will be implemented for the maintenance of roads in the entire state.