More changes in bidding process for highways likely

The government is looking at further changes to the bidding and execution process for development of national highways in India,responding to issues raised...

The government is looking at further changes to the bidding and execution process for development of national highways in India,responding to issues raised by both domestic and foreign players. The minister for road transport and highways Kamal Nath said that he is looking at three major changes in the process including land acquisition processes,dispute settlement and the termination clause of the model concession agreement MCA.

In a meeting with the minister,foreign companies including Asian infrastructure majors Plus Expressways UEM Group and Ranhill of Malaysia said that the major reason for investing in India was the its growth story. There is a huge opportunity for toll highway construction in India and we plan to invest as much as 300 million over the next three to four years. The Bhiwandi-Kalyan-Shilphata highway in Mumbai has been completed by us and it has been a learning experience. Even as land acquisition was slow,the ministers commitment to the sector indicates that these issues will get sorted out, said Tan Sri Dato Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim,chairman,Plus Expressways Berhad,a company that has built a road linking Malaysia and Singapore.

As far as land acquisition is concerned,the minister for road transport and highways Kamal Nath has asked the NHAI to set up 150 land acquisition units across the country to speed up the process. We plan to acquire at least 20 km of land every day across the country, said Brijeshwar Singh,chairman,NHAI at the two day road show organised by Ficci.

Ranhill plans to invest about 200 million in the Indian road sector and take up their first highway construction project in the country for a length of about 100 kms. India is a growing market and traffic is increasing. We want to test waters with one project first and then scale up. From what we have heard,it is important for the government to set up a speedy dispute settlement mechanism, said Ir. Tarique Azam,CEO,Ranhill Engineers and Constructors.

The ministry is working on a detailed model to streamline the dispute resolution mechanism by way of which the dispute between a contractor and the NHAI first goes to the Dispute Resolution Board,then enters into arbitration going through district courts way to the top. What is needed is a single window dispute resolution mechanism with a set time frame, said Shiladitya Das,CEO,Progressive Constructions of India. As far as the termination clause of the MCA is concerned,the minister said that the very label of the clause was a misnomer as the clause only deals with adding another lane to a build-operate-transfer BOT project. It is only when the developer does not agree to the expansion that termination comes into the picture. We are looking at tweaking this clause so that it does not become an eye sore and dampens investor sentiment, Kamal Nath said.