Contractors are reluctant to start road works in local authorities in the capital

With the Department of Local Government yet to revise rates for civil works, contractors have been reluctant to start road works in many local authorities.

In Thiruvananthapuram district, as many as 42 road works in rural local bodies had no takers despite being advertised three times. Bitumen rates rose due to the war situation in West Asia. Due to the rising cost of building materials, the department has introduced a new rate schedule from May 2025 and has allowed a collection overrun of up to 10%. Local Government Minister KMShaji told a rally last week that the department is now considering the chief engineer’s proposal to allow excess costs on similar lines to the Public Works Department order issued earlier. Contractors who regularly start work under local authorities have been demanding a similar contract for the past few months. Some of the major road works in rural Thiruvananthapuram to be started under various panchayats as well as Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat and some block panchayats have been pending for some time. These include works proposed by MLAs of various assembly constituencies in the district.

Published – 02 Nov 2026 22:26 IST