New Delhi, February 11 The Andhra Pradesh government has cancelled the contract for the construction of a fishing harbour at Kothapatnam in the Prakasam district after the contractor failed to achieve even 25 per cent progress, and is now processing a fresh proposal with a revised cost estimate, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.
The union fisheries ministry had approved the project in October 2022 at an estimated cost of Rs 364 crore, with the Centre's share pegged at Rs 80 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Fisheries Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh said the Centre had released Rs 40 crore to the state during 2022-23 and 2023-24.
"The Andhra Pradesh government has reported that the work agreement was concluded and work was awarded to a contractor in October 2022. However, in April 2025, the contract was cancelled by the state government due to less than 25 per cent progress of work," he said.
The state government has not reported any physical progress or fund utilisation for the project, the minister added.
The state has now revised the project cost upwards to Rs 441.88 crore and is processing a fresh proposal for administrative approval. The revised timeline for completion is December 31, 2027.
Apart from Kothapatnam, the Centre has approved eight fishing harbour and seven fish landing centre projects in Andhra Pradesh at a total cost of Rs 2,672.40 crore under the Blue Revolution Scheme, the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF), and PMMSY.