Highway building rose during Apr-Dec 2015

The third of a four-part series on core sector looks at highway construction, which has seen a 61% increase this year. A total of 3,980 km of highways were built between April and December 2015, and t

Highway construction activity rose 61 per cent during the April-December 2015 from the year-ago period, on the back of flexible norms and robust monitoring.

According to the ministry of road, transport and highways, 3,980 km were constructed during the period, compared with 2,475 km during the corresponding period of the previous year. The per-day construction of road was 15 km a day. Besides, the roads were also undertaken under the government's improving riding quality programme (IRQP).

Also, the award of contracts for 6,353 km of roads this year was much higher than last year's 4,564 km.

Contracts for 7,972 km were awarded during 2014-15, while 4,410 km were constructed during the year. In comparison, 4,260 km were constructed in 2013-14. According to the data by the roads ministry, the highest road construction during the United Progressive Alliance government was 5,732 km in 2012-13 when it averaged 16 km a day. Road construction undertaken through IRQP included an additional 2,328 km.

IRQP has yielded good results in the form of improvement of riding comfort, reduction and vehicle operation cost.

Officials added road construction would further gain momentum in the coming months and cross 6,300 km.

According to road experts, the government took a slew of measures in the past one-and-a-half years to deal with stalled and slow pace of projects, reviving investors' confidence in the sector. Projects are now being awarded only after securing environmental clearance and 80 per cent of land.

To ensure the timely completion of the stalled projects, regular meetings are held with project developers, state governments and contractors.

Also, regular review meetings are held by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) with regional officers, concessionaires /contractors. To expedite completion of these projects, various steps are taken which include streamlining of land acquisition & environment clearances, exit for equity investors, premium re-schedulement, close coordination with other ministries, revamping of dispute resolution mechanism, frequent reviews at various levels, etc.

NHAI along with the National Highways Builders Federation has formed Society for Affordable Redressal of Disputes for the purpose of speedy arbitration of disputes.