24 states ink pact with NHAI to expedite highways projects

Twenty-four states and Union Territories have till now signed an agreement with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to expedite road projects, Parliament was informed today.

"Twenty-four states and Union Territories, including the State of Maharashtra and Orissa, have signed the State Support Agreement (SSA) with NHAI till date," Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath told the Upper House.

The Transport Ministry last year made it mandatory for the states to sign the SSA under which the states would have to acquire land for highway construction to get central funds.

Nath said a few state governments, including Tamil Nadu and Bihar, are yet to sign the pact as they had sought clarifications pertaining to some of the provisions in SSA like levying of local taxes, additional toll ways.

Uttar Pradesh, which signed the agreement in January 2010, withdrew in March without stating the reason for withdrawal, he added.

The umbrella SSA is a single agreement that entitles the state government to support and facilitate the Centre in land acquisition, law and order and security in every highway project across the state.

Nath said the agreement does not prevent the State governments from undertaking significant road development in their respective states.

Earlier this year he had asked states to come forward to sign the agreement for expediting National Highways Development Project (NHDP) through Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.