Kamal Nath backtracks on first yearly target

After announcing an ambitious target on taking charge, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath has run into reality.

“We are targeting 7,000 km of road construction every year. It will not be achieved this year,” Nath said on the sidelines of a conference organised by the All India Management Association.

Soon after taking charge of the ministry, Nath had set a 20 km a day target for new construction, taking the annual figure to about 7,000 km yearly. The current pace is four km a day.

Nath had asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to come up with a work plan for the next five years. The first one offers 14,395 km of roads for 2009-10, the bids for which would be invited shortly. The money requirement is around Rs 1 trillion.

He said the government was inviting a huge number of bids to develop roads in the next 10 months and investment for this will be found.

Nath also said the bid documents will be made more attractive for private sector participation.

Meanwhile, his minister of state R P N Singh said in the Rajya Sabha today that the government is making available the entire 40 per cent of viability gap funding during the construction period itself for projects approved during 2008 and those to be approved in 2009.

Singh added that restructuring of projects is being done to improve their viability.

And that the total cost of projects in respect of which feasibility reports were prepared in 2006 and 2007 were increased by 20 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, to reflect current changes.