Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said consultants involved in preparing defective detailed project reports (DPRs) are "culprits" behind accidents and deaths on highways, warning contractors of blacklisting and other action for compromising construction quality.
Addressing industry body FICCI's 4th Edition of Tunnels & Bridges Conference 2026 in the national capital, the minister for road, transport and highways termed the makers of defective DPRs as "culprits" and alleged that consultants prepare these documents with the help of Google, causing loss of life and property.
"Such poor-quality DPRs that today on road, 5 lakh accidents occur, and 1.8 lakh deaths, and all have problem of defective DPR," Gadkari said.
The minister also cautioned contractors against compromising with construction quality after bagging an infrastructure project.
There will be a performance audit besides a financial audit, and based on the results, the contractors will be punished and black-listed, he said.
Due to all this, economic loss happens, and people are losing lives in road accidents, he said.
Gadkari further said that ratings will be given to contractors and DPR consultants based on which it will be decided whether to allow them to participate in future bids or not.
(With inputs from PTI)
