Taxpayers now face a $670m bill to move the wholesale fruit and veg markets out of the city after revelations of a $370m blowout.
The State Government today said it would go ahead with plans to move the market to Epping.
A review found it would actually cost $100 million more to keep it at Footscray Rd, which would need renovation.
Wholesalers' group Fresh State said members would prefer to stay put.
Additional costs would be passed on to the consumer, Fresh State president Shane Schnitzler said.
"The consumer can expect a price rise, probably between 10 and 20 per cent,'' Mr Schnitzler said.
Major Projects Minister Denis Napthine said the project had blown out from $370 million to $670 million under the previous government.
"This project has created a significant black hole in terms of our budget,'' Dr Napthine said.
"The final cost to the taxpayer is yet to be determined.''
Dr Napthine said rents at Epping would be lower than planned.
"Market tenants would have been forced to pay rent increases well in excess of 200 per cent which would have put many market users out of business,'' Dr Napthine said.
In 2006, then opposition leader Ted Baillieu promised not to force the wholesalers to move from Footscray Rd.
Plans to move the market to Epping were first announced by the previous government in 2005.
The new Government ordered a review after the election, but work on the Cooper St site is already well underway, and was expected to be finished by 2014.
Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews rejected claims of a blowout, and said the announcement was an embarrassment for a government that had opposed it.
"There is no blowout on this project at all,'' Mr Andrews said.
The extra cost was due to a warehouse in addition to the trading floor.
"This project was re-scoped openly and transparently. The project grew and expanded.''
The new site at Epping in the northern fringes was scheduled to open in 2010 under the former Labor government.
Traders will not be required to vacate the current market site until at least 2014.
Options for the Footscray land's future use are being explored, Dr Napthine said.
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