Modi Admits Quality Lapses in Government Projects, Questions Effectiveness of Third Party Audits

New Delhi: In a rare admission of shortcomings within the Centre's own infrastructure push, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has acknowledged that quality issues continue to plague construction and public projects across the country, and has openly questioned whether the existing audit system is capable of catching them.

Chairing the 53rd meeting of PRAGATI, the government's platform for monitoring project implementation, at Seva Teerth on Tuesday, Modi reportedly told secretaries at the Centre and chief secretaries of states that quality issues in construction are "unacceptable" and that "the system won't work like this," according to reports. The remark amounts to the central government conceding, at the highest level, that the safeguards meant to ensure quality on public projects are falling short.

During the meeting, Modi reviewed six infrastructure projects in the railway, road and power sectors spanning nine states, with a combined cost of more than ₹30,000 crore, according to an official government statement.

The Prime Minister's concession went further than a general admission of trouble. He raised the question of whether a "fourth-party audit" mechanism might be needed, noting that although third-party audits of project quality are standard practice, they may not be functioning as intended. The suggestion signals that the NDA government sees the current oversight architecture itself as inadequate to the problem.

The admission comes following failures of several infrastructure projects under the central government. This includes several projects by NHAI and Railways in Keralam.

According to studies and reports, Keralam recorded the highest number of quality-related highway failures in the country — 48 incidents were reported nationally between 2021 and 2026 due to poor workmanship, poor design and inadequate supervision by the NHAI, with 19 in 2025-26 alone and Keralam accounting for the highest number of recent incidents. Keralam recorded seven quality-related failures in 2025, and the government imposed cumulative penalties of ₹31.2 crore on contractors, with some debarred and engineers suspended.

In 2025, A section of the under-construction National Highway 66 caved in near Kooriyad in Malappuram district, raising alarm over the structural integrity of the 644-km six-lane highway, much of which runs through water-logged, fragile terrain. A day later in Kasaragod, part of a service road sank and cracks appeared on the carriageway, and the Kerala High Court came down heavily on NHAI over the collapse of newly built NH-66 stretches, as cave-ins, cracks and soil slips were reported from Thrissur, Malappuram and Kannur during heavy rains.