NHAI tells new govt: Cut red tape to open roads

National Highways Authority of India has asked Kamal Nath not to restrict private players from bidding for more than eight projects.

Stung by criticism that progress in the roads sector has come to a standstill,the National Highways Authority of India has asked Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath not to restrict private players from bidding for more than eight projects,give them the entire 40 per cent viability gap funding upfront and cut to size the documentation requirement that runs into about 9,000 pages now.

Almost all issues raised by the NHAI stem from the model concession agreement a standardised bidding document prepared by the Planning Commission in consultation with other administrative ministries that NHAI has to follow while awarding road and highway projects.

In a recent meeting with developers,Kamal Nath has indicated his willingness to push for modifying the MCA stating that the ministrys target would be to construct 15-20 km of roads a day compared with 1.5-2 km a day last fiscal.

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A government official told The Indian Express that referring each and every project to the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee under the Finance Ministry for approval rendered the NHAI ineffective in expediting the award process.

The NHAI had,in 2007 itself asked the Prime Ministers Office to exempt it from the PPPAC,but is still awaiting a decision. The five members of the NHAI should be given more powers to decide on the mode of award of project (build operate transfer or positive grant) and even bunching of projects, said the official,pointing to delays in award of 60 road projects by the NHAI in 2008-09.

Besides the PPPAC,the projects have to be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs too. While the CCEA approves the investment decision in general,the PPPAC scrutinises every project causing considerable delay, the official said.

The launch of bids for 60 projects at one go has caused confusion among developers especially since they have to limit the number of projects they can bid for at a time. NHAI ended up awarding less than ten projects last fiscal.

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