NHAI making all out efforts to speed up award and construction of highways
Constitution of project appraisal committees and delegation of powers help in quicker decision making
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has invited bids for projects of 4,900 km till November, 2017, while bids for another 3,500 km are likely to be invited by December end, taking the total upto 8400 km. Further projects for bidding during Jan-March, 2018 will be identified around the 4th week of December , 2017. Projects costing Rs. 22,100 crore and covering 1170 Km have already been awarded so far and the bids for many other projects are under evaluation.
Some of the projects that were bid out this year include:-
- Dwarka Expressway in Delhi;
- Varanasi Ring Road Phase-II in Uttar Pradesh;
- Khambataki Ghat 6-lane Tunnel on Pune – Satara Section in Maharashtra;
- Jodhpur Ring Road in Rajasthan;
- Bridge at Manihari Ghat (near Sahibganj) in Bihar;
- 6-laning of Chordaha – Gorhar – Barwa Adda in Jharkhand;
- 4-laning of Ghoshpukur – Salsalabari in West Bengal;
- 4-laning of Bhopal – Biaora in Madhya Pradesh;
- 4-laning of Cuttack – Angul Section in Odisha;
- 6-laning of Bengaluru – Mysore Section in Karnataka;
- Fully Access Controlled Expressway (Anandapuram-Pendurthi-Anakapalli) with connectivity to Visakhapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh
In FY 2017-18, NHAI has completed 1566 km length of the projects under implementation till November, 2017 (5,060 lane km). The average in last 5 years of length constructed by NHAI is 2,175 Km with 2,628 Km constructed in FY 2016-17. This year NHAI is targeting to construct 3,500 Km.
The work on 12 new projects (covering 597 Km) has commenced and will start soon on another 38 projects (covering 1969 Km). The banks/ financial institutions are now showing keen interest in Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) and financial closure of HAM projects are now happening smoothly.
NHAI is making all out efforts to achieve its target of awarding 10,000 km during 2017-18, as set by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation. The Authority is also gearing up to meet its target of completing Phase I of the recently approved “Bharatmala Pariyojana” within the next five years, that is upto 2021-22. During the last 5 years NHAI’s average award has been 2,860 Km, with 4,335 Km awarded in FY 2016-17.
While approving the Bharatmala Pariyojana, the Government had authorized NHAI Board to appraise and approve projects on Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) mode, which constitute 30% of the Pariyojana. Accordingly the NHAI Board constituted two appraisal committees for appraising projects costing more than Rs. 500 Crore and internal appraisal committees for appraising projects upto Rs. 500 Crore, besides delegating power to Chairman to approve projects upto Rs. 500 Crore and to the Executive Committee of NHAI for projects costing Rs. 500-1,000 Crore.
The Appraisal Committees have cleared several projects already, which has led to expediting the invitation and acceptance of bids. Chairman NHAI is reviewing the targets on weekly basis. Regional Officers have been instructed to engage retired Revenue Officials of the rank of ADM for each project so as to expedite the land acquisition. The delays in starting the projects like disbursement of compensation, tree cutting permissions, etc. are also constantly monitored. The site officers of NHAI have been instructed to meet and sit with the concerned officials of State Governments till the clearances are received. Issues are escalated to the Chief Secretaries of State Governments, if not resolved at local level.
