• 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

... contd.