Deadline missed to certify Delhi venues

Deadline missed to certify Delhi venues
The Indian government has missed a deadline to certify all Commonwealth Games sporting venues are structurally sound and safe to operate following reports of dodgy building practices.

The delay coincides with statements from Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) officials that unfinished work on the 17 venues and athletes' village will be "down to the wire".

Construction crews are working furiously to finish work on the venues with just over six weeks left before teams from 71 Commonwealth countries compete in New Delhi from October 3-14.

CGF president Mike Fennell this week completed an inspection of the 17 venues and the Games' village.

Fennell and Delhi-based CGF chief executive Mike Hooper told local journalists they were pleased with work performed to date.

But Hooper says the federation is banking on assurances from Indian authorities that work will be completed in time.

"Clearly, there is still a lot of work to be done and it's going to be down to the wire," Hooper told AAP from Delhi.

"But we're reasonably confident it will be done."

The Games' village is way behind schedule and must be completed by September 16, when it opens to thousands of arriving athletes.

"There's a lot more work to be done there which is disappointing given that this is one of the venues that was started very, very early," Hooper said.

"Still a lot of work to do on the dining hall and kitchen installation and other things required for the Games."

"They think they can get it done in that time."

Hooper said a lot of the venue work to be completed involves landscaping, clearing debris and roadworks.

The continued delays coincide with a missed deadline by the government to certify construction work on all of the venues.

In late July, India's anti-corruption watchdog dropped a bombshell by citing suspected dodgy building practices at a number of Games' venues and accusations that construction firms have inflated their costs.

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) inspected 15 roadway and sporting venue sites and found substandard concrete and steel works, and evidence that regulatory approvals had been forged.

The CGF responded, requiring the Indian government provide building certificates by Aug 18 that confirm all of the venues are safe to operate.

Hooper said on Thursday that government instead provided a partial list of approvals required to certify each venue.

"What we asked for was to see that effectively all of the requirements (have been satisfied) and they haven't at this stage," he said.

"We have not received all of the certificates we asked for, which at the end of the day culminate in the issuance of a building completion certificate."

In the meantime, the Sports Authority of India has provided a separate document stating that 13 of the 17 venues full comply with industry building guidelines