 "10-15% projects suffering owing to working capital woes: NHIDCL")
More than 10 per cent road and highway projects of the state-run National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) are languishing because of contractors’ inability to arrange necessary working capital, a senior company official said on Thursday.
Sanjay Jaju, director - administration and finance, NHIDCL, said this was despite the fact that such projects had been awarded in the Northeast and other strategic areas after completing 90 per cent land acquisition formalities and eliciting commitment from the contractors about finishing the work within the deadline.
NHIDCL, a fully-owned company of the ministry of road transport and highways, was incorporated in July 2014 to fast-track highway projects that have been pending with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). It handles projects in states like Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.
NHIDCL is building roads and highways of around 2,000 km in multiple locations of the Northeast and other bordering areas with the total investment of about Rs 35,000 crore.
“Though most of such projects are progressing fairly well, 10- 15 per cent of them are suffering purely for the fault of contractors, who have shown sheer lethargy with regard to raising the necessary working capital,” Jaju said, addressing a summit by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.
“The corporation has already issued notices to non-performing contractors for the revival of such projects. Failure to respond to the notices already served will attract necessary punitive action. (Arranging) working capital is entirely the onus of the contractors,” he added.
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