New minister, new target: NHAI to award 100 projects in 2011-12

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been told to work on awarding contracts for around 100 projects, covering 11,151 km, over the financial year starting April 1.

On an average, NHAI would have to award eight projects every month. “We have prepared a tentative list, which we will be awarding in the next financial year. Awarding these should not be an issue,” said a senior NHAI official, who did not want to be identified.

Of the 100 projects, 15 are under the third phase of the National Highways Development Programme, 57 under the fourth phase and 27 under the fifth phase. One project to be awarded in the next financial year is under the South Asian Regional Development Programme – North East.

The award of road projects had slowed during the first tenure of the UPA government. Though one reason was the economic slowdown and the ensuing liquidity crunch, which kept companies away, there was also dissatisfaction with the performance of then road transport minister T R Baalu. At the start of UPA-II in mid-2009, Kamal Nath was brought in to reform the functioning of the ministry and NHAI; he had set a target to build roads at 20 km a day, increasing it from the earlier pace of around three km a day.

Nath also came up with work plans for two financial years, setting a target of awarding a little over 200 projects with a value of over Rs 2 lakh crore in the two financial years ending March 2011. According to the first work plan, NHAI was to award 122 projects covering around 12,000 km by the end of 2009-10 and 96 projects by the end of 2010-11. NHAI was able to award only a little over 70 projects, with the result that the 20-km target remainedon paper.

Now comes the new focus under a new minister, C P Joshi. Industry sources feel awarding these many projects in 12 months will not be difficult, as various other changes in the norms will help. NHAI recently decided to make the bidding process less complex by making one Request for Qualification (RFQ) document valid for a year. With this, road developers would save the six months of time that goes in preparing for the document every time one goes for the bidding.

The ministry has also decided not to award projects on the annuity mode of building roads but on engineering-procurement-construction.