The country’s biggest infrastructure upgrade under the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) has recorded the lowest-ever progress rate under this government in 2007-08.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has posted a 56 per cent project completion rate across all phases of the NHDP in 2007-08 in terms of completion of projects — the lowest since the UPA came to power and Union Minister T R Baalu came to head the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways.
The NHDP exercise is on along 33,000 km of national highways across NHDP I, II, III and V.
It has only been a slide down in the NHDP progress rate since 2004 and that was evident earlier this week when Baalu held a review with NHAI. Consider these:
•Project completion rate was 81 per cent in 2004-05, 78 per cent in 2006-07, 73 per cent in 2005-06 and is now down to 56 per cent.
• Project award rate is down from 70 per cent in 2005-06 to 17 per cent in 2007-08.
• 2007-08 has seen one of the worst ever performances by NHAI with only 1,614 km upgraded against a target of 2,885 km.
•NHDP I and II together have registered a 50% progress against the target in terms of completion of length in 2007-08.
•NHDP I and II, which include the Golden Quadrilateral and North South East West corridor, have been very slow. As many as 22 contracts along 177 km on the GQ are still pending. Ten of these are even likely to go beyond the latest deadline of June 2008.
... contd.
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