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Under implementation with major cost overrun

Puri "World-Class Heritage City" Cost Overrun

Blunderlust rating★★★★★ 4.0 / 5 · 441 reviews⌖ Puri town (Jagannath Temple precinct and beachfront, ABADHA scheme), PuriEntry #01 in Puri

On record

Odisha's flagship ABADHA scheme to redevelop Puri around the Jagannath Temple saw its budget balloon by over ₹1,000 crore due to design changes and additional projects added mid-course.

The official record states: "The Odisha Cabinet attributed the increase to "changes...effected to the approved projects and some additional projects": a "multiplicity of factors.""

“A thousand crore over budget on a heritage scheme. The heritage is twelfth century, the overrun is contemporary.”— Blunderlust Editorial Desk

Sources

  • https://www.thestatesman.com/cities/puri-world-class-heritage-city-project-shows-cost-overruns-of-rs-1016-crore-1503192747.html

Visitor reviews Satire

“The temple is from the twelfth century and the thousand-crore overrun is very much from this one.”
BJ B. Joshi · Puri★★★★★
“Walked the redeveloped precinct. Handsome stonework, and a budget that grew by a third while the design kept changing.”
HP H. Pillai · Puri★★★★★
“The cabinet blames a multiplicity of factors, which is the largest single line item in the revised estimate.”
GC G. Chatterjee · Puri★★★★★
Blunderlust RecordBL/PUR/2017/OTH
Status
Under implementation with major cost overrun
Category
Other
State
Odisha
Year
2017-18 launched; revised cost approved June 2023
Cost to taxpayers
₹4,224.22 CrRevised to ₹4,224.22 crore, up from ₹3,208 crore (~32% overrun)

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Under legal dispute; construction proceeded despite unresolved damage allegations
Jagannath Temple precinct · Other

Puri Heritage Corridor Temple Damage

As part of the Heritage Corridor project around the 12th-century Jagannath Temple, excavation by contractor OBCC allegedly destroyed archaeological remains and caused cracks in the Nata Mandap shrine, per a 70-page ASI affidavit in the Orissa High Court; ASI also found the project proceeded without valid National Monuments Authority permission.

Blunderlust rating ★ 3.5 · 117 reviewsOn record 2022

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NOTICE — Entries document real, publicly reported infrastructure projects, sourced from news reports and RTI replies (see each entry for citations). Star ratings, reviews and editorial tone are satirical framing; the underlying facts are not, and are omitted for entries involving loss of life. Not affiliated with any government body, political party, or foreign agency.© 2026 Blunderlust · File No. BL/2026/POTHOLE/01
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