NHAI blames delays in environmental and forest clearances for downturn in highway sector

01 Jan 2014 Evaluate

Disappointed over the slowdown in the highway projects, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has blamed abnormal delays in getting environment and forest clearances. The NHAI has noted that ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), through its recently changed policy, has created hurdles for environment and forest clearances, which have affected highway projects worth about Rs 20,000 crore and forced the NHAI to approach Supreme Court.

The NHAI highlighted that over the past two years, the highway sector is struggling with slowdown as around 40 highway projects have failed to commence or be completed. In the current fiscal, NHAI has managed to give just 479 km of road projects against its target of 3,000 km by September. In the previous financial year, only 1,116 km of projects were awarded against a target of 9,500 km. Furthermore, NHAI has stressed that it could have terminated the contracts and blacklisted developers for not fulfilling their contractual obligation however that would have meant annoying a large number of private operators.

Meanwhile, Road and Highway ministry has been taking measures to speed up the implementation of road projects. Recently, in order to attract road developers and to revive country’s highway sector, the ministry had approved a policy that allows infrastructure developers to exit highway projects by divesting their entire stake. New policy will help to expedite implementation of road infrastructure in the country and insulate the highways authority from heavy financial claims and unnecessary disputes. Further, the ministry would like to make provisions in the public-private partnerships (PPPs) contracts that allow re-negotiations as PPPs are long-term partnerships spread over 20-25 years.

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