This is a two-step project, and in the project approval decision made by the investment decision-maker, the compensation costs and land clearance were approved with a value of approximately 900 million Vietnamese dong. However, after preparing the compensation and land clearance plan and obtaining the authorized approval for the adjusted budget for compensation and land clearance, the approved value (specifically by the provincial People's Committee) is 1 billion Vietnamese dong.

Under the Construction Law, Decree No. 10/2021/NĐ-CP, and related decrees, the authority to approve adjustments to the cost structure within the total investment has not been specified, specifically in this case, approving adjustments to compensation costs and land clearance costs without exceeding the total investment.

Mr. Thanh requests the competent authority to respond to the above content.

The Ministry of Construction responds to this issue as follows:

Compensation, support, and resettlement costs are an expenditure item within the total investment as regulated in Article 134, Clause 2 of the Construction Law, and Article 5, Clause 2 of Decree No. 10/2021/NĐ-CP dated February 9, 2021, by the Government on construction investment cost management.

According to the regulations in Article 134, Clause 5 of the 2014 Construction Law, as amended in Point c, Clause 64 of Article 1 of the Construction Law No. 62/2020/QH14, the total investment of projects using public investment funds and foreign state investment funds can only be adjusted when the project is adjusted according to the regulations in Article 61 of the Construction Law, supplemented in Point đ, Clause 18 of Article 1 of the Construction Law No. 62/2020/QH14.

The construction budget for these projects is adjusted according to the cases specified in Clause 4 of Article 135 of the Construction Law.

In cases where the adjusted construction budget exceeds the approved budget but does not exceed the approved total investment, according to the regulations in Clause 4 of Article 15 of Decree No. 10/2021/NĐ-CP, the investor organizes the adjustment and reports to the investment decision-maker for approval before being officially approved. The assessment of the adjusted budget is the basis for approval and implementation according to the regulations stated in Article 15 of Decree No. 10/2021/NĐ-CP.