Kolkata: The Builders’ Association of India (BAI), Kolkata Centre, on Saturday alleged that the state govt owed contractors nearly Rs 50,000 crore in dues, which it claimed had accumulated during the previous Trinamool Congress regime. BAI urged chief minister Suvendu Adhikari to clear the outstanding bills at the earliest.“The contractors’ outstanding bills to the state now stand at around Rs 50,000 crore. They accumulated during the previous Trinamool regime, mostly since Covid. We have sent an email to the CM, urging him to make the payment immediately,” Raja Mukherjee, secretary of BAI Kolkata Centre, said.The association, which represents contractors, also claimed that the govt made payment on many of the bills before the 2026 assembly elections, which were raised before the 2021 assembly polls.“Of the Rs 50,000 crore, over Rs 30,000 crore is due under Jal Jeevan Mission, Pathasathi and Amar Para Amar Samadhan. The new govt, after assuming office, has started making payment for small amounts,” Mukherjee said.Pradeep Choudhary, national trustee of BAI, alleged that the previous govt did not pay contractors’ dues for the work under centrally sponsored schemes, while Centre cleared the payment.According to BAI, the problem is not only limited to Bengal, other states also face the issue by and large. “In most cases in Bengal, the govt floats tenders without proper planning. This does not happen in other states,” Sushanta Kumar Basu, former all-India president of BAI, said.The association has demanded that contractors should get the facility of paying GST after receiving the payment from the state govt. “According to rules, the contractors should get the payment within 45 days after raising bills. However, in Bengal, many contractors need to wait more than a for payment, although they have to pay GST after raising the invoice. We demand the facility of paying GST after receiving the payment from the state,” Rajib Manna, chairman of BAI Kolkata Centre, said.He also alleged that many of their clients paid lower workers’ wages compared to the rates notified by the state labour dept, which was hurting them financially.The state govt has just started awarding tenders under non-plan heads. “The state has floated two tenders for renovation of the MLA hostel and is expected to come out with road tenders shortly,” Mukherjee said.
