Highway project hits dead end

The country8217;s ambitious NHDP has hit a dead end. Half the fiscal has passed and the National Highway Authority of India has not awarded a single project.

The country8217;s ambitious National Highway Development Programme NHDP has hit a dead end. Half the fiscal has passed and the National Highway Authority of India NHAI has not awarded a single project. For the full fiscal, it had set a target of awarding about 3,000 km of highway projects under NHDP phases II and III.

Private players and sources in NHAI blamed the new model concession agreement MCA for roads for the dramatic slowdown. For instance, capping hikes in toll rates at just 40 per cent of the wholesale price index against 100 per cent earlier made it lot less attractive for the players, they said.

Another clause makes it mandatory for NHAI to acquire 80 per cent of the land before awarding contracts. This makes it difficult for the authority in practical terms, which feels work may start once say 60 per cent of the land is acquired, and then acquisition can be completed in due course.Private players also said the MCA did not protect them against the flip side on traffic growth projections, and felt NHAI should be made to share the risk with them.

The MCA, it may be noted, took almost eight months to finalise, with serious differences of opinion between the Planning Commission and the ministry of road transport and highways. Gajendra Haldea, advisor infrastructure, Planning Commission, was instrumental in pushing through the new norms he has also copyrighted the document.

Some NHAI officials also pointed a finger at the PPP appraisal committee PPP-AC under the finance ministry that approves infrastructure projects. An NHAI official said though the authority had forwarded many projects, the committee had not met even once to discuss highway projects. Finance ministry sources, however, said the PPP-AC had received only one project from NHAI till September 15. 8220;It was only in end September NHAI sent about 10 more projects,8221; an official said. The PPP-AC further cannot be held responsible for delay since it was bound to clear all proposals within a month, he added. When contacted, NHAI member finance Satyanarayan Dash said contracts were awarded in a phased manner: 8220;In one year you see a large number of contracts being cleared, and another year being used mainly for implementation of works.8221;