Expressing unhappiness over progress of projects, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari has said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) should have more powers to fast-track road projects. He also said that a proposal in this regard has already been sent to the Cabinet for approval.
Gadkari has stated that they have to strengthen the power of NHAI and the Board. He also said that their proposal is pending and they hopes that Cabinet will enhance the power of the NHAI that will be useful for road construction. The Minister also expects that at least Rs 10,000 crore worth of road construction from the NHAI. He further added that the project delays were due to the system as there were so many committees to take decisions and eventually the projects suffer.
The move is aimed at empowering the NHAI board to clear all highway projects on its own instead of seeking clearances at various levels. Enhancing the power of NHAI will help fast-track clearances to highway projects at a time when the government has fixed a target of building 40 km of roads a day. The NHAI board at present proposes a highway project which is cleared by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) before Cabinet approval if the project amount is less than Rs 1,000 crore.