More fund allocation for road projects through PWDs on anvil

In order to give impetus to investment in infrastructure projects in the wake of economic slowdown, the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and National Highways is exploring the possibility of increasing the allocation of funds three-fold through the state public works departments (PWDs) other than the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

“We currently spent over 17,000 crore annually through state PWDs other than NHAI which we expect to increase to Rs 50,000 crore-Rs 60,000 crore. This makes sense because if a nation can provide Rs 1.10 crore as subsidy on fertilisers, then about a half of that amount incurred on infrastructure can catalyse the growth of all sectors,” an official of the ministry told Business Standard.

The ministry is also mulling to set up a separate monitoring authority for the various road projects. “The NHAI is both exceutor and regulator of the projects. If this is bifurcated, it would help in better implementation,” the official said.

The make the toll collection process automated in the projects executed through public-private partnerships (PPP) is also in the pipeline. The official said that the leakages under the manual system of toll collection undermined the viability of the road projects for government and private partners.