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.

• Another 72 km on the North South East West corridor and 184 km of port-connectivity projects are yet to take off while several NHDP II projects are yet to be awarded.

While the PM-chaired Committee on Infrastructure (CoI) expressed acute dissatisfaction with NHAI’s progress in its review meeting in December 2007, the picture was equally dismal during the Planning Commission’s re-check with NHAI last month.

The Plan panel pointed out that NHAI was taking 20 months on an average to award a project against the set timeframe of five months.

Incidentally, while projects move along sluggishly, there is no slowdown in the investment being pumped into the NHDP.

NHAI spent Rs 15,639 crore on NHDP in 2007-08 — 89 per cent of what was allocated — and has been fairly close to the expenditure target in the last four years.

NHAI has argued that the slowdown is because the government is yet to notify and approve the new toll rules and the Model Concession Agreements (MCA) for the toll. It also pointed out that the government’s rules on shortlisting, evaluation and verification of Request for Quotation (RFQ) documents are delaying the award of projects.

Added to this, NHAI claims, is the dearth of technical and financial staff, shortage of raw materials for contractors, overall shortage of skilled manpower in the industry. And that the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) on which the toll is decided does not fully reflect market conditions.

National Highway Development Programme Progress

2005-06

Length Achieved

753*

Project Completed

4,750*

Expenditure Incurred

6,350**

2006-07

Length Achieved

636

Project Completed

1,734

Expenditure Incurred

8,917

2007-08

Length Achieved

1,614

Project Completed

1,203

Expenditure Incurred

15,640