With a view to speed up the development of road infrastructure in India, the Road Transport Ministry has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to empower the ministry to make it able to award projects worth over Rs 1,000 crore investment. Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has stated that a number of projects in the past have got delayed due to a number of committee approvals required for their implementation.
Nitin Gadkari has stated that Since May 26, Road Ministry has cleared Rs 40,000 crore worth of projects which were stuck due to inordinate delays in clearances. The minister further added that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will soon award new PPP (public-private-partnership) projects in the sector. However, the Minister rejected the possibility of attracting foreign direct investment in the road sector. Finance Minister in Budget 2014-15 has proposed Rs 37,880 crore investment in NHAI, including Rs 3,000 crore for the North East.
There is a need of widespread highway infrastructure in the country to boost the economic growth. Over the past few years, the highway sector has been struggling with slowdown. During FY14, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has managed to award around 2,000 km of road projects as against the set target of 9,000 km, while in FY13 only 1,116 km of projects were awarded against a target of 9,500 km. Financial constraints, delay in land acquisition and environmental clearances and lack of project planning are the leading factors impacting road infrastructure development in the country.