Maharashtra PWD Minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday told the Legislative Council that no corruption has taken place in the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial, but said he has noticed an escalation of the project cost by around Rs 1,000 crore. The state government is building the memorial of the 17th-century king off the Mumbai coast.

"I have noticed cost escalation by at least Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore, but I will not term it as corruption immediately. There is a need to conduct a closer inspection of all the developments," Chavan said in the House. "So far not a single rupee has been paid to L&T company (which is executing the project)," he added. Chavan, a Congress leader, was speaking while replying to a question raised by NCP member Hemant Takale.